


Phoenix and Ashes

by phillydragonldy



Category: Smallville
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-04-16 23:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 31,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4644117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phillydragonldy/pseuds/phillydragonldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after they were torn apart, Chloe and Davis must come together again to fight a returning evil. </p><p>This story is the sequel to Something Between Us. You should definitely read that story first, otherwise some elements may not make sense.</p><p>Timeline: Post-series (excluding 7-year jump ahead)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Introduction:
> 
> This story is the sequel to Something Between Us. You should definitely read that story before this one, otherwise some elements may not make sense.
> 
> This tale takes place post-series (excluding the 7-year jump ahead scenes as seen in the finale). All canon elements from S9 and S10 are acknowledged to have happened.

Red eyes in a monstrous face.  Roaring, tearing, clawing at the sides of its prison.  
  
Breaking free.  
  
A demon reborn in fire emerging into the world once more, its mind blank of everything except rage.  
  
It had come to destroy, and this time it would not be stopped.  It would find and seek the ones that had trapped it, and their blood would flow like rivers.  
  
It turned toward the city in the near distance.

* * *

  
  
_"No!"_ Davis cried, bolting up from the bed in a frantic cold sweat.  His heart was racing and his breath came out in panicked gasps.  Next to him, a woman rolled over at the sudden motion and opened sleepy eyes.  
  
"Aidan?  Whas' wrong?" Marta mumbled.  "Was it the dreams again?"  
  
Davis closed his eyes, centering himself.  It had just been another dream.  Doomsday couldn't be getting free.  The monster had been buried under an entire geothermal plant deep inside the earth's crust.  There was no way for it to escape.  
  
So why did he now keep having these dreams of the monster getting loose?  
  
Tess's words from years ago in his recovery room came back to haunt him… _Your purpose may not be fully served._  
  
He forced his breathing to slow, to bring himself back under control.  Tess Mercer had been wrong.  He had no place in the world of monsters and heroes anymore.  He wasn't Davis Bloome anymore.  He was Aidan Kell, and his place was here.  The good he did here was real.  _Here_ he may have a chance to balance the scales between his past and present.  And maybe, one day, he may eventually clear the stain on his soul for the terrible deeds he'd done – and for the terrible deeds done because of him.  
  
And he could do it without using the dangerous power of his alien heritage.  A power he had locked away inside himself when he boarded the plane that took him away from his old life.  
  
With a deep breath, he turned to the girl lying next to him.  In the sliver of moonlight that came through the partially closed tent flaps, he could just barely see her.  Her wavy brown hair was mussed and the light made her bare skin look near as pale as his, but her dark eyes shone.  She was patiently waiting for him to sort out his own mind and answer her.  The thoughtful waiting of her manner reminded him so much of…  
  
He quickly shut that thought down.  
  
With a sigh, he finally spoke, "Yeah, I'm fine.  Just another dream."  
  
Concern shadowed her face.  "The dream you won't discuss."  
  
Looking away, Davis remained silent.  
  
Then Marta asked softly, "Is it about Chloe?"  
  
Davis turned sharply to look at her again, his voice coming out strained, "How do you know that name?"  
  
The sympathy was still on Marta's lovely face as she replied.  "Aidan, it doesn't take a genius to figure out you came here to escape something.  Goodness knows, you wouldn't be the first or the last to do so.  But it's pretty obvious if you look."  She began ticking off points on her fingers.  "When you first arrived, it took you weeks to respond when someone called your name.  As if it wasn't really yours.  You never talk about home or your past.  Like clockwork, you use the internet station once every six months.  No more.  No less.  As if that is all you allow yourself.  I thought it was because you were into some kind of weird porn or something…but that isn't really you, is it?"  
  
The last comment caused Davis' jaw to drop in surprise, but Marta just sailed ahead.  
  
"You work longer and harder than anyone I've ever met, almost like you have something to prove.  You've never requested leave.  Not once in three years.  And that entire time, you've only ever gotten one piece of mail."  Her look turned sharp.  "A strange crystal sent by the now-deceased head of one of the world's largest companies."  
  
Davis forced his eyes not to go over towards the locked trunk that held Tess Mercer's final "gift."  
  
Marta continued, "I'm not trying to out you or anything.  Whatever your reasons for coming here, we are lucky to have you.  But my guess is, this is all because of this Chloe."  
  
Forcing his voice to sound calm, Davis replied.  "I don't know what you are talking about."  
  
Marta's eyes became teasing.  "Of course not.  You just call her name out in fits of passion.  You mutter 'I love you, Chloe' into my ear as you fade into sleep.  You hide your surprise badly at finding me in your bed come morning, as if you expected someone else instead."  
  
Davis felt himself growing red.  "I-I do?"  
  
Marta's face split into a wide smile.  "Yes, you do.  It would be enough to give a girl insecurity issues.  Luckily, it works out better for me that you are in love with someone else."  Her eyes turned thoughtful as she tucked the light sheet under her arms more securely, keeping her breasts modestly covered during their conversation.  "That is why you picked me, isn't it?"  She studied his face a moment.  "Yes, that explains so much.  All the girls throwing themselves at you, and except for one night here and there, you ignored them."  Her eyes were far away as she thought.  "I see now, they all wanted more from you than you could give."  Marta paused, remembering that first time he had taken her to his bed almost a year ago.  "Except me."  
  
Unconsciously she played with the wedding ring on her left hand.  
  
Seeing the action, Davis nodded, acknowledging the correctness of her statement.  
  
Marta looked at him, and her eyes turned soft.  "Thank you for this, Aidan."  She gestured at the bed and their naked bodies underneath the thin sheet.  "I understand that part at least.  It's the same for me.  I miss Jeremy so much, but having a friend like you here…someone to chase away the loneliness at night, it helps."  She looked at the quiet camp through the crack in the tent's opening.  "It's enough for now."  She turned back to him.  "But it won't be enough forever.  For either of us."  
  
Davis was quiet for a long moment, before the words felt pulled from him.  The admission he had tried to suppress for three years coming forth, "This…this or something like it…will always have to be enough for me.  With anyone.  I can't do more.  I'm-I'm still in love with her…"  
  
Marta placed a warm palm over his bare shoulder, her voice gentle.  "Does she know?  Can you go to her?"  
  
Davis eyes caught a glimpse of the stars outside the tent.  He wondered if those same stars could be seen in Metropolis.  "No.  She thought I was…someone else."  
  
_A murderer.  The one that killed Jimmy in cold blood._  
  
A lance of pain shot through his chest as he remembered Tess telling him what his alter ego had done.  But even then, he'd still harbored a foolish hope.  A hope that they might still find their way to each other again.  Despite her thinking him Jimmy's killer and dead to boot, he'd held on to that belief.  Then about a year ago, he had seen the newspaper article and known it was over.  "She's moved on."  
  
Marta wrapped her arms around his back in a comforting hug, but Davis barely felt it.  His mind was thousands of miles away…

* * *

  
  
Chloe sighed, putting down the last of the boxes in her new apartment.  The new space seemed both full and empty to her.  Full of boxes and familiar wrapped furniture, but so empty of the life she had just left.  Looking around and seeing the couch she had used in The Talon apartment, Lana's old posters, and her _Go Crows!_ Mug, she realized that almost all of what she had brought with her were things from before she had ever left Kansas.  As if she wanted to use the pieces of the person from so long ago to build her new life, instead of the trappings of wealth she had left behind in California.  
  
Not that those trappings hadn't been offered -- the designer furnishings and the closet full of clothes that cost several times her yearly salary at The Star City Ledger…but they hadn't seemed like _her._ The real _her._ They never really had.  They had just been trappings of the wife…or 'wife' of a billionaire.  
  
Unconsciously rubbed at her sore lower back, she tried to push the thought aside.  Thinking like that would do her no good now.  She should think about all that still lay ahead of her, instead of behind.  
  
Heavy footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, and she stepped back to let Clark through.  In his hands was a plastic bag full of miscellaneous items that had been stashed in the cab of the rental truck.  Placing the bag down, he said, "That's it.  Truck's all clear."  He paused seeing Chloe rubbing her back.  "You ok?"  
  
She smiled at his concern.  "I'm fine, Clark, just a bit sore."  
  
He gave her a teasing smile.  "You know I could have gotten all this carried up here in about 3 seconds, right?"  
  
Her smile held, but became slightly sad.  "Yeah, I know.  But this wasn't hero business.  This is just...life.  It felt like it should be done the old fashioned way, you know?"  
  
Clark quirked that sympathetic little half-smile of his.  "Yeah, I guess I do."  
  
"Thanks, Clark."  She turned to look at the boxes that filled up the cute little 2-bedroom apartment, forcing her mind to think through how she wanted to set up her new home.  
  
"I can stay, you know," Clark said behind her.  "I can help with the unpacking..."  
  
She turned back to him, feeling touched by the simple offer.  "No, I need to figure out what I'm going to do first, but thank you."  
  
He gave her a concerned look.  "With the apartment?  Or..other things?"  
  
She laughed ruefully.  "Both."  
  
He put a hand on her shoulder and caught her eyes.  "I know I haven't always been there when you needed me, Chloe, but I'm here now.  If you need anything, just call."  
  
She laid her hand gently on top of his.  It had been years since they'd had a moment like this.  "Thanks, Clark.  But for now I just need to figure some things out.  Decide where to go from here."  
  
"Would it help if I took Lois' advice and knocked Oliver around a little?" he asked with a teasing smile.  
  
That startled a laugh out of Chloe before she replied, "No, but thanks for the offer, and send my thanks to Lois for the thought."  She paused before continuing, "But it isn't really his fault.  Not like you think."  She let out a heavy sigh.  "It was just another doomed marriage made under mind-whammy for me.  Same old, same old."  
  
"Chloe..."  
  
"No, Clark, it's true, and we all know it.  Oliver and I weren't ready for marriage.  Maybe we would have gotten there eventually, maybe not, but it was too soon.  We loved each other, yes, but not in the way that could support us building a life together."  
  
"But Dinah..."  
  
"No, Clark.  Dinah wasn't the problem.  It was Oliver and me.  If we had been strong, been happy, been more than just a person we each turned to, then..."  She stopped, not wanting to rehash it right now.  "Just trust me, Clark.  It was over.  Dinah just gave us the courage to admit it shouldn't have been in the first place."  
  
He held her gaze for a long moment, reading her eyes.  Chloe wondered what he saw there, because he nodded a moment later.  "Alright Chloe, but I mean it.  If you need me or Lois, just call.  We're here for you."  
  
She smiled again.  "Thanks, Clark."  She made a shooing gesture.  "Now go, get that truck back to the rental office.  Otherwise, I have to pay for another day and I no longer have a billionaire footing half the bills."  
  
He smiled in reply, "Yes, ma'am."  
  
"Hey, that's _Ms._ to you!"  
  
He just smiled in reply again and walked toward door.  
  
"And give my cousin a kiss, alright?"  She smiled as she called out to him.  
  
"Alright."  He smiled back.  
  
Then he was gone, and she was alone in the empty apartment.  Her smile vanished and she crossed the room to close and lock the door to her new apartment.  
  
Her very own _Metropolis_ apartment.  
  
She remembered when she was young and she had dreamed of such a thing.  She loved this city, but had been forced to leave it so many times.  First by her father moving them to Smallville.  Then when Dark Thursday destroyed her college.  Then when she had run away with…her mind stuttered over the name, even after three years… _Davis_.  
  
Davis had loved this city as much as she had.  The city he alternately tried to save and tear apart.  The city where he died.  The city where he killed.  
  
It wasn't a wonder that she had withdrawn from the city and her life into Watchtower afterwards.  
  
Until Oliver that had finally started to pull her into the world again.  She had repaid him the only way she could based on the visions from The Fate Helmet.  She had run away from her city again to join the Suicide Squad.  To save his life.  
  
Then Zatanna's magic mind-whammy had seen them married…maybe not legally (underground casinos aren't really into due process), but to them it had been true in all the ways that mattered.  So she had left her city once again – for what she had thought to be the last time.  
  
But now she found herself back once again in the city she had loved so much.  
  
Though it certainly didn't feel like her dream had finally come true.  
  
Chloe leaned back against the door of her new apartment and slowly slid down until she was seated on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chin.  Finally she let fall the tears she hadn't ever allowed anyone to see.  Not Clark.  Not Lois.  Not even Oliver.  
  
She'd kept up a brave face for them all, but now she could let it all out.  She had thought with a quite literal magical wedding like she and Ollie had gotten (even if neither of them had a memory of it) that it should have been happily ever after.  
  
But it hadn't.  
  
Between Oliver's corruption by Darkseid, her own insecurity when her oldest friend had turned from her, uprooting and restarting her life (again), nothing had gone anywhere close to the fairytale they should have had.  
  
Maybe she just wasn't cut out for Happily Ever After.  
  


* * *

  
  
_Two weeks ago..._  
  
She had come home early, having wrapped up her story for the Star City Journal ahead of time after days of grueling effort.  She had hoped to arrange (meaning: have delivered) a nice meal for her and Oliver.  They barely saw each other anymore – him the poster child for the vigilante movement and her working her way up through the Journal's ranks the hard way.  They'd been married only a bit over a year, but they hadn't had sex for months.  Neither of them wanted to admit it, but it seemed more like they were roommates than a married couple.  
  
It was intolerable.  
  
_Tonight that ends…_ she had told herself, thinking of the unused lingerie in her drawers.  Months ago, she had bought a green lace concoction intending to use it for some special occasion...that never came.  Even on their one year anniversay, they had been apart.  Oliver on vigilante work and her back at Watchtower west running the op.  
  
But damn it, tonight she would finally tear off those tags!  Tonight her and Oliver would finally get back to where they used to be...or they would end it.  
  
But when she got home, she walked in on Oliver and Dinah arguing.  Quickly, she ducked back around the corner, before they could see her.  The fact that neither of the heroes had noticed her proved how deeply involved they were in their argument.  
  
Shamelessly listening in, she realized the words had the patter of a discussion played out many times before.  
  
"I said no, Dinah."  Oliver told her, unwinding Dinah's arms from around his neck.  "I can't do that to Chloe."  
  
"You aren't doing it to Chloe.  Not at all from what I can tell.  I'm asking you to do it to me," Dinah purred.  
  
"She's my wife, Dinah."  
  
"Psh, some wife.  You don't even remember getting,"  Chloe saw Dinah form air quotes around the next word, "...'married'."  Dropping her hands, Dinah gave Oliver a piercing look.  "And we both know we would have gotten together before if you weren't so confused and grateful to her for pulling you out of that gutter after you killed Lex."  
  
"That's not fair, Dinah.  Yeah, you and I were talking and stuff, but Chloe was there for me in a way no one else was at a time I really needed it."  
  
"I could have been, but I didn't know!  I was on the other side of the world tracking down intelligence on the Kandorians.  Intelligence that Chloe sent me to find, by the way."  
  
Oliver let out an annoyed breath.  "She had no idea there was anything between us, and besides that isn't the point.  The point is that she was there for me.  She saw the place I was in and pulled me out of it, kicking and screaming.  Then she helped me turn back to the kind of person I wanted to be, even after what happened with Desaad.  She risked her life and freedom for me.  I owe her so much for that.  The least I can do is hold to the vows I gave to her."  
  
"But you aren't in love with her!"  
  
"Of course I love her!"  
  
Dinah's voice became quiet.  "That isn't what I said.  I said you weren't _in love_ with her."  
  
Oliver was silent for a long moment, before replying.  "It doesn't matter, Dinah.  She's my wife and I will never hurt her.  At least not more than I already have."  
  
Chloe couldn't listen to any more.  It was too close to her own feelings.  
  
Obligation.  
  
Was that really what things had come down to for them?  
  
The comfort and love they had once found together had frayed so thin, tested by the choices they had made for themselves and not for the life they had somehow ended up sharing.  They had been friends for years before they had fallen into bed.  But that had had changed quickly to a relationship, then just as they were falling in love, they had found themselves married.  Too fast.  
  
Had things come full circle again?  She loved him and he loved her, but had they fallen out of being _in love?_ Were they only really together because of obligation and promises made they couldn't even remember?  He had waited for her after she had disappeared with the Suicide Squad, so she had felt she owed him.  She had saved him from himself after he had fallen into darkness, so he felt he owed her.  
  
That wasn't love -- it was obligation.  
  
She had walked around the corner so they could see her.  "She's right, Oliver, and I think we should talk."  
  


* * *

  
  
_The Present..._  
  
Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes as she pushed the memory away.  The sunlight that had come through the large windows was nearly gone.  If she didn't start moving soon, she'd be sitting here crying in the dark.  Twice-divorced, crying in the dark, surrounded by boxed college decor...the picture that formed in her mind was too pathetic to bear.  She climbed to her feet and flicked the light switch, bringing the overhead light in the living room to life.  It was such a small action, but it made her feel better to see the apartment bright again.  She instantly resolved to paint the dull white walls as soon as possible even if it did cost her security deposit.  
  
Wiping the last of her tears from her cheeks, she made a promise to herself.  She was done fitting into someone else's mold.  She wasn't Clark's sidekick anymore, she found and trained heroes herself.  She wasn't a meteor-freak who could only help by hurting herself, she was an award-winning journalist focused on helping uncover and expose waste and corruption.  She wasn't a rich man's not-pretty-enough first wife, she was Chloe Sullivan.  
  
And that was who she would always be.  
  
She squared her shoulders, and started to move across the room when the building began to move under her.


	2. Chapter 2

Davis didn't know what it was, but suddenly his head snapped up as his gaze locked on the north.  The antiseptic tablets he'd been mashing into a paste for a septic wound instantly forgotten.  Dropping both mortar and pestle, he climbed to his feet, never taking his eyes away from the north.  He stared off into the far distance, unsure what had attracted his attention, but deep inside he knew that something was happening.  Something terrible.  
  
Marta came up to him and placed a gentle hand on his tensed shoulder.  He'd sensed her coming, so hadn't jumped, but it had been a near thing.  His body practically hummed with tension.  
  
"Aidan?  What is it?", she asked softly.  
  
"I don't know...something is wrong..."  
  
She didn't ask how he knew.  This wasn't the first time he had sensed something everyone else had missed.  He'd known about the collapse of the iron mine on the nearby mountainside well before the smoke could be seen in the air.  Those extra few minutes had proven critical in collecting supplies and getting out to the wounded.  
  
"Where?" was all she asked.  
  
"Home..."  
  
He barely noticed Marta's sharply indrawn breath, his attention still riveted in the direction where he instinctively knew Metropolis lie.  
  
"I have to get back, now," said Davis, forcing himself to turn away from his haunting stare into the north.  He started marching back into the center of the camp.  
  
"Wait, what?  What's going on?"  Marta asked, chasing after him.  "What do you think happened?  Where is 'home'?"  
  
Davis stumbled slightly as he realized his earlier slip.  He forced his lips to remain sealed, even though he was desperate to tell someone his fears.  
  
Marta sighed, recognizing the closed expression.  She should have expected this.   Aidan never talked about his past.  Ever.  "Fine.  How about telling me what you plan to do?"  
  
That gave Davis pause.  Leaving wasn't as easy as it might seem.  While it was possible for him to just run out of here and all the way to Kansas by using his powers, he had given up them up for a reason all those years ago.  He had sworn off his alien powers so he could redeem himself -- as a mortal man.  Dropping that vow now for convenience would make a lie of all the work he had done here.  
  
Also, if he suddenly gone, there would be questions.  Aidan Kell was a documented aid worker with Emergency International.  If he just disappeared, people would search for him.  While the chance was remote, it might even make it to the press.  He couldn't risk it.  He had to do this the right way.  Sort of.  
  
He turned back to Marta.  "I need to get back to Texas.  Now.  She's in danger."  
  
He watched Marta's eyes get big, and her mouth formed a silent O shape.  Marta knew exactly who the "she" he was talking about was.  
  
 _Chloe._  
  
He was finally going after Chloe.  
  
As for Texas, it was the best place he could think to start.  He certainly didn't want to show his face back in Kansas without getting some things in order first.  
  
Snapping her jaw shut with an audible click of teeth, Marta visibly pulled herself together.  "Alright then, let's go to the internet station.  We need to put in an emergency leave request for you.  If all goes well, we can have you on a truck out of here by tonight."  
  
Tonight.  
  
Looking up, Davis blinked at the bright early morning sun.  Tonight seemed so far away, but he didn't have much choice.  
  
Letting out a heavy breath, he nodded his head in agreement.  Thinking through what he needed to do helped calm the panic that had seized him.  Looking back toward the north he felt the pressure slacken somewhat.  Whatever he had sensed had stopped.  For now.  He just hoped he was back in Metropolis before it returned...because he had a sinking suspicion about what he had sensed.  
  
Doomsday was breaking free.

* * *

  
  
Chloe picked herself up from the floor of her apartment.  She found herself oddly grateful she hadn't gotten to any unpacking yet.  If she had, her newly placed things would probably have fallen down or crashed during the earthquake.  
  
Stupid earthquakes, they never failed to unnerve her.  Why didn't the earth in California stay put like it did in Kansas?  
  
Wait.  
  
She was in Kansas.  
  
She was in Kansas during an _earthquake._ Something Kansas most certainly did not get.  Tornadoes, yes.  Meteor-infected nutjobs, sure.  But not earthquakes.  
  
This can't be good news.  
  
She dialed Watchtower's emergency line.  Courtney picked it up before the first ring.  "Chloe, you ok?  Your new place hold up?  Thankfully, Watchtower is built like a fortress, and everything here made it through ok, but I guess you planned this place to survive a few shake-ups!"  
  
Chloe was oddly calmed by the younger girl's chatter.  Courtney was made of tough stuff, and even she was clearly rattled.  Centering herself, Chloe began focusing on priorities.  "Hey Courtney, yeah, I'm fine.  Did you start a scan of the emergency channels and deploy the team as needed?  Have you started a search on what caused the rumble?"  
  
"I have the team deployed helping where they can, but I can't figure heads or tails on what caused the quake.  Could you come in and see what you can make of it?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll head right in.  See if you can get hold of Victor.  I might need his help going though some data."  
  
"Ok, got it.  See you soon."  
  
The call disconnected.  
  
Sighing, Chloe took only a single regretful look around her apartment full of boxes before she walked out the door.  She was Chloe Sullivan, all right -- leaving a mess behind to go save the day.  
  
 _Go Team Me._

* * *

  
  
As Marta had promised, Davis was on a truck by evening on his way back to the main camp.  From there he would be going straight to the airport and the waiting red-eye flight to Dallas, Texas.  In his hands, he had all the appropriate paperwork for customs and immigration relating to his status as a returning aid worker.  Once in Texas, he planned to head off on his own by catching a bus back to Kansas.  
  
He'd be back in the same city as Chloe within 24 hours.  He let out a sigh that was comprised of equal parts relief and nerves.  
  
During the flurry of preparations, he had forgotten that Chloe supposedly no longer lived in Kansas.  She was supposed to be in California...with her _husband._ By painful habit, his heart seized remembering the picture from The Daily Planet gossip section.  It had been a picture of Oliver Queen wearing a wedding ring and the caption: OLIVER QUEEN SPOTTED WEARING WEDDING RING.  BUT WHO IS THE NEW MRS. QUEEN?  According to the story, no marriage certificate was ever filed, but the billionaire/vigilante had taken to wearing a wedding ring.  Further stories on the subject revealed that no one new had moved into the Queen mansion apart from his aide, an unremarkable divorcee named Chloe Sullivan.  
  
But Davis knew the truth even before seeing the follow up stories.  In that first photo of Oliver wearing the mysterious wedding ring, Chloe could be seen blurrily in the background.  She too had a wedding ring on her hand.  
  
That night was the only time in over three years that Davis let himself get drunk.  The events of that night were mostly a haze of alcohol and sweaty skin on skin.  It wasn't until days later that he found out that was the first night he had slept with Marta.  He knew now how lucky he really was that it was her and not one of the other women in camp.  Some of them had been trying to lure him to their beds for years.  Sometimes he let them when the loneliness became too much to bear, though he always regretted it afterwards.  He could never give them what they really wanted.  But it was different with Marta.  They were friends, and had been since he had appeared at the Emergency International site three years ago.  They had been drawn to each other because they sensed the other knew loss equal to their own.  Marta's husband, Jeremy, had died a few months prior, while Davis had lost his entire life...even his name.  Aidan Kell was all that was left of the late, unlamented Davis Bloome.  
  
Now it seemed he still wasn't done cleaning up after his former life, as the monster that had been part of him for so long was once again breaking free.  
  
 _And Chloe was back in Metropolis._  
  
It had just been a small thing, but there it was.  Her name on The Daily Planet's online employee directory.  He had been looking for Clark's contact information, but some instinct -- or maybe it was just raw hope -- had made him search Chloe's name too.  
  
And it had shown up.  
  
She was a new desk reporter at The Daily Planet, having recently transferred back to Metropolis.  Davis had stared at the screen with her name and phone extension for a long moment, unable to believe it.  
  
If she was back in Kansas, did that mean she and Oliver had split?  
  
Was it wrong how his heart leaped at the prospect of Chloe available again?  And back in the same city that was his own destination?  
  
Could it be fate?...or something else sinister at work?  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

The computer's Done noise woke Chloe from where she had been dozing in her chair.  She blinked in surprise to realize how dark Watchtower had gotten.  Had she slept that long?  She vaguely recalled Courtney saying goodbye at some earlier point.  Chloe really hoped she had replied, and hadn't just snored the younger girl.  Had it been light out or dark then?  
  
Looking back at her monitor, she checked the time.  Nearly 3am.  It had taken even Watchtower's advanced computers quite some time to download all the seismic data, while she had been catching up on her missed Zzzz's.  Now she just needed to analyze the data.  
  
Feeling only slightly refreshed from her nap, but with a crick in her neck, Chloe pulled up the graph and let it run across her monitor, wondering if there was any chance of coffee in the pot that wasn't sludge.  Blinking, she got up from her seat with a stretch, looking around the room.  The Watchtower was lit only by the screens of a dozen monitors, giving the space an eerie sort of glow.  As her eyes adjusted, she searched to see who else was still in the tower.  Finally her eyes fell on the form of Victor Stone in the far corner.  He had plugged into one of the computer terminals and images flashed on the screen in front of him.  Chloe guessed he was searching through his own data.  
  
She snagged her empty coffee cup from the desk and moved over to the coffee pot in the corner of the room.  After filling a cup and adding way too much cream and sugar, she walked over to join Victor.  
  
Seeing her come up next to him, Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, froze the screen image before him, and turned to smile at her.  "So you finally rejoin the land of the living again, Chloe."  
  
Chloe smiled back a bit sheepishly.  "Yeah, sorry if I snored."  
  
Victor laughed.  "If you did, I didn't notice.  I've been studying this data, and unlike you, I don't need sleep."  
  
Chloe smiled, and took a sip of her coffee...which she promptly spit out again.  It was thick as motor oil and about as tasty, even with the cream and sugar.  
  
"Bleh!" she exclaimed, making Victor laugh.  
  
"Chloe, why don't you go back to your place for a while?  Those few hours of chair sleep can't have been all that good for you.  Get some real sleep and come back.  I've got everything here under control."  
  
She hesitated, weighing the suggestion.  She'd been up for nearly 24 hours straight, excluding her chair nap.  First with the move, then the quake, then damage control, only to go straight into downloading and analyzing the quake data.  
  
She looked over at the scrolling graphs on her own computer.  If she wrote a short program, she could set that to run over the new data and see if it could compile and epicenter for the quake while she went home for some real sleep.  
  
"Alright, Victor.  I'll do that in a bit.  Thanks."  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe pulled the covers up to her chin.  The bed was new and unfamiliar, but right then she thought she could sleep on the floor and be content.  In truth, she nearly had.  Earlier today she had run out of the apartment without having anything, including her bed, set up.  Thankfully, it seemed either Lois or Clark had come in at some point and put together the bed and mattress.  They had even put clean sheets and blankets on.  
  
She sent her mystery benefactor a silent thank you, before stripping down and crawling into the covers.  
  
Her dreams, however, were not very restful.  She tried to tell herself it was only because another relationship had crumbled around her, but her mind kept reliving the last few days of her time with Davis Bloome.  She remembered him breaking down in fear over losing himself to the monster within.  She remembered their desperate, passionate embraces.  She remembered separating him from Doomsday.  
  
She remembered his mad eyes as he killed Jimmy and tried to kill her.  
  
She woke screaming his name and soaked in sweat as sunlight spilled through the room.  
  


* * *

  
  
As Davis disembarked from the bus at the Metropolis bus station, he looked around his former home with a riot of feelings fighting within his chest.  First among them was joy.  He loved this city.  Even through the trauma of his childhood, Metropolis had always been the only place he saw as home.  His three years at the Emergency International camp had been important work, but it had never been _home._ Not like this noisy, busy, crazy city with all its strange happenings.  
  
Close on the heels of his joy, was trepidation.  Last time he had been in this city, he'd been a murderer.  In fact, if it hadn't been for Tess Mercer, he'd still be a wanted man...instead of a "dead" one.  
  
Then there was the blossom of hope.  Chloe was in this city too.  Even knowing the great divide between them because of the terrible actions of the Darkness that had taken his shape, he couldn't suppress the warmth inside knowing she was nearby.  
  
Lastly, being this close to Doomsday again after all these years sent an unpleasant prickle of awareness through him.  It helped remind him of his true purpose here.  This wasn't a social visit.  He was here to stop his monstrous other half from breaking free again.  
  
Hefting his bag onto his shoulder, he made his way out onto the street.

* * *

  
  
Chloe stood at the window of her new apartment, sipping a cup of fresh coffee, trying to wash away her haunting dreams in the bright sun of the new day.  A figure in dark clothes with a large duffel bag thrown over one shoulder at the end of the block caught her attention.  There was something in the way the man walked that tickled at her memory.  The hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up, so she couldn't see his face, though she probably wouldn't have seen much anyway from this distance.  Even so, she found herself pressing her nose to glass as she tried to make out his shadowed features.  
  
For a moment, the figure paused.  As he turned and looked back, she had the impression of dark eyes looking directly at her, even though that was impossible.  He shouldn't be able to see her any better than she could see him at this distance.  Even so, she she stood motionless in the window, watching him as he seemed to be watching her in return.  It wasn't a bad sensation, this watching.  In fact, it made her feel strangely...warm.  She had no idea how long they stayed like that, but when her phone let out a shrill ring, it made her jump.  That broke the strange connection.  Turning from the window, she snatched up the phone from the floor next to her bed.  She hit the answer button without even looking at who had called.  "Hello?" she said into the phone, already turning back to the window.  
  
"Chloe.  It's Victor.  I hope I didn't wake you."  
  
"Hey Victor.  No, I was awake already.  What's up?"  Her mind was only half on the call as her eyes scanned outside, searching once more for the dark, familiar figure.  She couldn't find him, even though he had been there a moment ago.  Where was he?  
  
"Just wanted to let you know that data analysis you set to run is complete.  Whenever you want to head back in, we can go over it."  
  
She finally spotted the dark figure some ways down the street.  She thought she saw him glance back at her once more, then he ducked around a corner and out of her sight.  She couldn't help the strangely disappointed sigh that escaped.  
  
"Chloe?  You alright?" Victor asked over the phone.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, sure.  I'm fine.  Data's done?  That's great.  I'll be in soon."  Hanging up, she pressed herself against the window once more, even though she knew the strange man was gone.  Who was he?  Why had he seemed so familiar?  
  
Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere staring out the window, she turned away.  Victor needed her.  There was real work to be done...and maybe cameras to check for the mystery man's whereabouts as well.  
  


* * *

  
  
She never did get to check any cameras for the man that had so riveted her earlier.  The data that her program had compiled took all her attention.  
  
"This just doesn't make any sense...," Chloe grumbled to herself looking over the graph that scrolled across her screen.  
  
"What doesn't make sense?" Victor asked, coming up behind her.  
  
"It almost looks like..." she said, watching the flow of seismic graphs on her screen to be sure.  "Well, I am certainly no seismologist, but it looks to me like that quake started...here.  Right outside Metropolis, to be exact.  But that can't be right.  I mean, this is _Kansas._ We don't get earthquakes."  
  
Victor nodded agreement.  "Yes, I am seeing the same thing from the data I ran on my side earlier.  I was just looking to see if there had ever been any report of earthquake activity in Metropolis.  So far, nothing in any of the records.  Point of fact, I even found a geological survey from Luthorcorp that Tess Mercer commissioned before the old geothermal plant was built.  Nothing at all about seismic concerns in the area.  That was part of why they built the plant --"  
  
An alarming thought hit Chloe at his mention of the old geothermal facility.  "Wait -- Stop right there.  The geothermal plant.  That is just outside Metropolis, right?"  
  
Victor nodded.  
  
 _Oh, please no.  Don't be true..._  
  
"Victor, I need a high resolution map of the Geothermal facility's blueprint right away."  
  
He looked at her, interested.  "Sure, Chloe.  I'll send one right over.  What do you think you'll find?"  
  
Turning back to her screen again, she replied, "Hopefully nothing."  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe stared in horror at the screen image before her, hoping that with each blink of her eyes it would change.  
  
But it didn't.   
  
The blueprint overlay of the old Geothermal Plant and the seismic map she had generated lined up perfectly.  In particular, the area of the former plant that had housed the Core Shaft appeared to be the epicenter of the quake.  
  
"Victor?" she called out.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, coming over to her.  "The geothermal plant.  It's still locked down, right?  No new activity there?"  
  
Victor shook his head, confused at her question.  "No.  Nothing.  Tess did a great job of covering the site over with both a paper trail and real rubble to make sure it stayed undisturbed.  She knew the dangers buried under there, and wanted to make sure that no one in the future would start eyeing the spot.  Why?"  
  
Wordlessly, she threw her screen up to one of the large monitors.  Victor immediately saw what she had -- the perfect match between the seismic map and the geothermal plant.  
  
"Hmmm.  That's not good...but what could it mean?" he asked, studying the image.  
  
Anxiety roiled in Chloe's guts.  "Danger was never something to stop the original Lex, and I doubt Lex 2.0 would be much different.  Especially since he knows nothing about what is really down there.  For all we know, Lex Luthor reborn might just see the shuttered plant as a perfect spot for a secret underground facility.  It might be worthwhile to have someone go out there and check it out in person."  
  
"Alright," Victor agreed and turned back to the monitor.  
  
She really hoped she was wrong and that the quake location was just a coincidence, because if not...  
  
The word escaped on a breath that shook with fear.  "Doomsday..."  
  
The monster that they had buried.  The monster that had torn apart her life.  
  
It could be breaking free.


	4. Chapter 4

He had seen her.  
  
Chloe.  
  
Davis had known it was _her_ looking at him even before he turned around.  He found her watching him from the upper story window of an apartment building.  Had she recognized him from that distance?  
  
No, she couldn't have.  As far as she knew, Davis Bloome was dead.  
  
But she had watched him nonetheless.  
  
He had stopped and watched her in return, seeing her clearly despite the distance.  His eyesight had become incredibly keen after splitting from the monster, though he didn't think it was inhumanly so.  Still, he had drunk in the sight of her as a man stranded in the desert drinks himself full upon encountering an unexpected oasis.  
  
She was tanner than he had ever seen her before, but her blonde hair was tumbled slightly from sleep in an all-too-familar way.  Even the cute pajama top and shorts she wore were familiar to him.  
  
Best of all, there had been no wedding ring on the fingers that held her coffee cup.  
  
It had taken everything in him to turn and walk away when she had been momentarily distracted.  
  
He had brought terrible pain to her before.  If he could, he should resolve the problem with Doomsday without involving her.  He had told himself he would only contact Clark, not Chloe, and he had meant it.  
  
But had he been kidding himself?  
  
It was almost more coincidence than he could bear to believe that she would be back in Metropolis -- and single -- at the same time he returned.  Or that her apartment would be just around the corner from the hotel he had chosen at random.  
  
Could something be drawing them back together again?  
  
Hefting the duffel bag more comfortably on his shoulder, he felt the box buried inside shift.  The box that contained the Phantom Zone crystal Tess Mercer had sent to him after her death.  Could this be her doing?  Her reaching out from the grave to set things in motion?  He wouldn't really put it past that woman to arrange for things to play out even after her own death.  
  
Or could it be something else?  Could The Fortress be setting this up?  It certainly had shown it had a mind of its own -- even when infected by Brainiac.  And the crystal he now bore and the Fortress had been a turning point for him and Chloe.  They had left together after that.  Could it be that it had a part in bringing them together again?  If so, why now?  
  
And there was Clark -- now known as Superman -- to consider as well.  What would be his part in this?  
  
Had the cycle come back around so Superman and Doomsday could meet again once and for all?  
  
If so, had Davis been drawn back to help Superman...or Doomsday?  
  
That chilling thought was interrupted when the second quake hit Metropolis.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Chloe?  Chloe, you there?" Clark's voice buzzed in her ear from the headset communicator, making her jump.  She had been so intent on the analysis of the blueprints, she had forgotten Clark was going onsite at the plant to investigate.  
  
"Clark.  Yeah, I'm here.  How does it look?"  
  
"Not good.  Someone has definitely been working here.  I can see signs of it everywhere.  A lot of the support beams of the original structure are visible now.  I've been taking readings on some of the support areas.  I'll send them to you."  
  
The data started flashing across her screen.  
  
"Ok, cool.  Give me a moment to set it to run through this program here..."  
  
She dumped the data into the program she had written based upon the original design specs from the blueprints.  
  
Just then another rumble started shaking the earth, nearly knocking Chloe out of her chair.  As she righted herself, an alert appeared on her screen.  
  
"Clark!" she cried out.  "Get out of there!  Now!"  
  
"No, no, I'm ok.  It's a little shaky, but I haven't explored the whole area yet.  I just need to --"  
  
"Now, Clark!" she yelled back.  
  
Without further argument, she heard the tell-tale whoosh sound of Clark moving at superspeed come over her headset.  A moment later, the rumbling stopped.  She collapsed back in her chair in relief, her heart racing as if she had been the one running.  
  
Clark, dressed in his Superman outfit, landed lightly on the Watchtower balcony just as the quake ceased.  It was only then that she noticed the darkening of the room.  Dusk had come while she worked, but she had paid it no more attention than she had the last night coming on.  However the time she had spent working had been worth it, because Clark had escaped the plant in one piece.  As he came into the room, she couldn't help but admire the heroic figure he cut in the red-and-blue suit.  
  
"What's wrong, Chloe?  Why did you drag me out of there?  You know that falling debris wouldn't hurt me."  
  
She shook her head.  "What might come down wasn't the problem, Clark.  I'm more worried about what might come up."  With that, she turned her screen around to face him.  
  
The program she had up calculated the structural stability of the collapsed plant compared to the force of the last quake.  According to the data, it would only take two or three more events to compromise the integrity of the Core Shaft where the monster was trapped.  
  
Then Doomsday would be out.  
  


* * *

  
  
Davis had never been in an earthquake before, but he instantly knew what it was.  
  
He also _felt_ what was causing it.  Doomsday.  Being this close to the monster once more, he could sense the mindless rage and hate that drove it.  There was no doubt in his mind that the tremors were caused by The Beast trying to escape.  
  
Davis hadn't tapped into the alien power he shared with the monster for years, but the link was still there.  As Davis could feel the monster buried not far from here, he had an uncomfortable sensation that Doomsday also somehow knew of his own presence back in Metropolis.  He also felt its desperation to finish what it had attempted years before.  
  
The monster seethed with a need to destroy Davis.  To destroy Clark.  To destroy Metropolis.  
  
To destroy Chloe.  
  
That last thought drove Davis back to his feet even before the quake stopped.  
  
He didn't have a specific destination in mind when he took off running, but habit and instinct overcame him.  He took off, racing at something that _just barely_ counted at human speed.  He hadn't had a destination in mind, but when he raced past a street sign, he realized where he was going.  
  
Not to the Daily Planet.  Not to the address he had found listed for Clark.  Not even to Chloe's new apartment.  
  
He ran to the place he had only learned of after his Dark Double had killed there.  
  
He ran for the place called Watchtower.


	5. Chapter 5

Clark looked over the data that Chloe had posted for him, and quickly understood why she had dragged him away from his investigation of the plant so quickly.  
  
"So this is saying..." he started.  
  
"Yes.  Two or three major rumbles like the ones we have had over the last few days and the entire support structure of the geothermal plant will be completely compromised.  It won't be any stronger than a pile of matchsticks.  Doomsday will be able to break through easily."  
  
"But why?  How?  Can Lex really be so foolish as to dig up the old plant?"  
  
Chloe gave him a non-smile.  "If he thinks something down there would give him the ability to destroy Superman?  You betcha he would."  
  
Clark began pacing, his cape whipping around him in dramatic fashion.  "But doesn't he realize that Doomsday is a threat to the entire world?  Not just me?"  
  
Chloe shook her head.  "I don't know, Clark.  I wouldn't put it past him either way.  But that isn't the important part."  
  
Sighing, Clark stopped his pacing.  "You're right, of course.  The important thing isn't the why.  The important thing is keeping Doomsday buried, or barring that, how to defeat him."  
  
Chloe nodded agreement, then hesitated before continuing.  "Clark, I know you don't like to talk about it.  But I think you need to remember more about exactly what happened during your fight with Doomsday at the plant the first time -- like how you survived the initial fight and how you got it down the Core Shaft."  
  
Clark shook his head in some distress.  "Chloe, it isn't just that I don't like talking about it.   I honestly don't know everything that happened.  I don't know why Doomsday didn't kill me after we hit the plant.  I was unconscious -- an easy target.  Instead it went to the Core shaft room...and killed someone else instead."  He looked at her with pained eyes.  "That person -- whoever they were -- died horribly in my place."  His hands clenched.  "And I don't even know _why!_ "  
  
Chloe got up from her chair and moved to him.  As she had in days long, long ago, she put her arms around him in a comforting hug.  For a moment he stood frozen, but then he hugged her back.  
  
After a long moment, when he pulled away again he was clearly more at ease.  Since she had decided to leave Star City, something that had been wrong for a long time between them had started to heal.  They might never be like they once were, but they were learning to trust one another again, and that was enough.  
  
Victor cleared his throat loudly across the room, drawing their attention.  "Guys, I hate to break up your moment, but I think you should see this."  
  
"What is it?"  Clark asked as he and Chloe joined Victor at his workstation.  
  
Spinning his monitor around, Victor replied, "I think it may be a ghost."  
  


* * *

  
  
Davis stood in front of the clocktower building, unsure what to do now that he was here.  He wasn't even entirely sure why he had come _here_.  He could have gone to The Daily Planet.  He could have called and left a message for Clark.  
  
But instead he had come here.  To this place where the Darkness he had given form to had killed Jimmy.  
  
Knowing the tragedy that had happened here, there was no reason to think that Clark would be here.  Certainly, no reason Chloe should be.  
  
But still, some instinct had drawn him here.  
  
A mechanical buzz attracted his attention and he saw the security camera refocusing on him.  He looked into the lens purposefully, making sure it got a good shot of him.  He didn't know who was on the other side of that lens, but he had come back to Metropolis for a reason, and this was where his instincts had brought him.  
  
Despite his good intentions, he wasn't sure what sort of welcome he would get once he exposed that "Davis Bloome" wasn't dead.  Of all the reactions he had imagined, what he got wasn't it.

* * *

  
  
Looking at the screen that showed the man standing outside The Watchtower, Chloe couldn't breathe.   
  
_A ghost, indeed._  
  
The man she had seen earlier --  the one that had seemed so familar -- it was _him._  
  
 _Davis._  
  
An unexpected leap of joy filled her heart for a moment.  _Davis was alive!  He was here!_  
  
Then reality came crashing back.  
  
Davis Bloome was dead.  Oliver had gone to extraordinary lengths to be sure of it.  She had -- in utmost secret -- gone to his grave regularly in the intervening years since his death.  She had even been true to her promise to herself and planted a brilliantly flowering cherry tree at the spot.  
  
But now someone who looked exactly like him stood on her doorstep.  
  
Rage filled her heart where a moment ago had been joy.  Hadn't she suffered enough already?  She had loved Davis Bloome passionately -- in a way she had never loved before or since.  But he had fallen into darkness as he was consumed by his monstrous alter ego.  In the end, he had become nothing more than a soulless, murderous shell of the man she had loved.  
  
Worst of all, she still didn't know if it was her fault that he had fallen so far.  Had her use of the Black Kryptonite -- which she had thought would save him -- instead been his destruction?  
  
Even after all these years, it was a thought that woke her in a cold sweat.  
  
And now this.  It was some sort of cruel game.  This man that looked so much like her dead love -- from his pale skin to his warm brown eyes -- was a clone or a phantom or some other sort of twisted monster come to plague her.  
  
She pressed the intercom button and, between clenching teeth, spat out -- "Who are you?  And why do you look like Davis Bloome?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Chloe._  
  
She was inside this building.  Davis didn't know how he had known, but instinctively, he had come to her here.  Everything in the last few days, from his dreams to the quakes to his sighting of her today had worked to draw him here.  To her.  
  
He took a deep breath, trying to still his wildly beating heart, then pressed the speak button on the intercom.  "Chloe.  It's me.  I am Davis Bloome."  
  
How strange it was to say those words aloud after so long.  _I am Davis Bloome._  
  
He continued, "The one who you saw after the split.  The one that...killed Jimmy.  That wasn't me."  He took another deep breath, and found himself leaning into the door, as if he was trying to be closer to her, even if only by a few inches.  "That was...umm.  This is hard to explain, but it was another side of Doomsday.  I was in the Geothermal Plant with Clark.  I was there when it exploded, but Tess dug me out."  
  
He released the speak button, waiting to see how she would react to his shocking statements.  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
After an eternity, another voice came over the intercom -- Clark's voice.  
  
"You should probably come inside.  I think we all need to talk."  
  
Then the door buzzed, allowing Davis entry into the building.  With another deep breath, he went through the doors and into the lobby.  The elevator was already open and waiting for him.  
  


* * *

  
  
A moment later, the elevator doors opened onto a high-tech control center.  And guns.  Guns pointed at him.  A lot of them.  Though many of them seemed to be somehow part of the African-American cyborg man that stood next to Chloe.  Though -- even more shocking -- one of them rested easily in Chloe's hands.  
  
 _When had Chloe become so comfortable with guns?_  
  
Clark, dressed in his Superman costume, was the only one without an obvious weapon drawn.  Though, of course, he had plenty of his own built-in weapons.  
  
Despite being confronted by the famous Superman and a half-man/half-machine, it was the petite blonde that seized Davis' gaze and wouldn't let go.  Her face was cold as she looked at him, though he felt warm inside just at seeing her again so close.  "Hello, Chloe," he greeted her softly.  
  
She cocked the gun at him.  "For the record, I don't believe this wild tale you concocted and I don't know why you came here, whoever-you-really-are, but I've been over-ruled in hearing you out.  So talk."  
  
Davis took a deep breath, then started explaining what had happened after the Black Kryptonite split.  He recounted how he had been injured when Doomsday threw him across the room, but how he had healed from an impossibly broken back.  That caused a dangerous narrowing of Chloe's eyes and Clark's face went stony.  They both believed his healing ability was because of his monstrous side -- Doomsday.  Davis rushed to explain.  
  
"I don't think the healing is actually part of the monster.  That power, that ability felt too...clean.  I think it was the power that was part of being a Kryptonian."  Davis turned and looked at Clark, whose face was a blank mask.  "I'm not like you, Clark.  I wasn't born.  I was _made._ I think that is why our powers have some overlap, but are different.  I also think that is why Doomsday was the conduit for my Kryptonian heritage until we were separated.  Once we were split, I was able to tap into that power on my own, though I have chosen not to since that terrible day."  He turned to look at Chloe with mournful eyes.  Her own green eyes simmered with anger and pain.  "I was trying to redeem myself.  Trying to be worthy of the life I was granted."  He broke away from her hostile gaze.  "And to atone for the lives lost because of the other parts of me released that day."  
  
He then described how he had been split not into two parts as they had assumed -- but three. Himself, Doomsday, and a creature that had his form, but Doomsday's evil -- the thing Davis had felt taking over his mind and that he had called "The Darkness."  That explanation caused Chloe to go white as a sheet, shock replacing simmering anger.  
  
Seeing that his explanation may be winning her over, he went on with his story.  He recounted how Clark and Doomsday had come crashing back into the plant and how he had hidden the unconscious Clark and lured Doomsday away.  
  
"I found that when I tapped into the power that had healed me, it seemed to have an effect on the monster.  I think the creature could feel me taking in that force.  I believe we were both connected to the same source, and by using it myself, it weakened the monster's access to the well of power.  But at a cost.  When I did so, Doomsday knew."  He paused for a moment before continuing.  "I decided to use that to my advantage and lure the creature away from the unconscious Clark."  Clark and Chloe exchanged a look, but didn't say anything.  "I thought I had figured out Oliver's plan to trap Doomsday in the earth by forcing me down the Core Shaft.  So that was what I thought to do to The Beast.  Only...it didn't work out quite that way."  He took another deep breath and looked at Clark.  "I was successful in getting the monster to chase me to the Core Shaft room.  Then I tricked it into charging at me while I stood at the pit's edge, but I wasn't quite fast enough and instead of the monster going into the pit -- I did."  
  
That part of the story caused Clark to gasp audibly and take an unconscious step toward Davis.  "It was you!  It was you that I saw climbing over the edge of the shaft after I sent the monster down!  Then there was the explosion and --"  The big man placed a hand to his head, as if trying to recall.  "Somehow I got out.  I never really knew what happened."  He looked back up at Davis.  "Or why the monster had abandoned me to go to the Core Shaft instead.  I never thought there might be a connection.  I always assumed the person it attacked at the pit was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."  His eyes widened and he turned to Chloe.  "Chloe, you always asserted you saw someone busting through the security doors and Doomsday on the security footage that day.  I always thought you saw it wrong, with the explosions and the debris affecting the cameras becauseI knew it wasn't me.  I came upon the monster already there..."  He stopped again, looking back at Davis with still-wide eyes.  "But why??"  Why did you do it?"  
  
Davis smiled ruefully.  "You were injured, Clark, and despite everything, I was an EMT.  It is what I did -- help the injured -- and I knew...I knew what everyone said was true."  He paused and pointedly looked at Clark's Superman outfit, letting  his rueful smile soften to something real.  "You were the hero the world needed."  He looked at Chloe for a moment, but he couldn't put a finger on her feelings.  Her expression kept flickering between one emotion and the next.  He turned back to Clark.  "And I knew that even as much as Doomsday wanted to kill you, it wanted _me_ more."  
  
"But wouldn't you just heal if it hurt you?"  Chloe asked.  
  
Davis shook his head, turning his attention back to her.  "No.  I think because we were connected, I am vulnerable to it.  It injured me in the plant when it grabbed my throat.  That was part of why I never called for help, even after you sent the monster down the shaft, Clark.  I couldn't."  
  
"But if you are vulnerable to the monster..."  Chloe started.  
  
Davis finished, "Then yes, I think he is vulnerable to me too.  I know I can siphon off his power, but I also have something else."  Davis unslung the bag from his back.  
  
Victor loudly cocked every single one of the weapons he had pointed at Davis.  "Hold it!  Give the bag to Clark, then back away."  
  
Davis did so.  When Clark had the bag in hand, he passed it over to Chloe.  "What did you want from here?" she asked Davis without any inflection.  
  
"Inside is an elaborate box.  It was sent to me after Tess Mercer's death."  
  
Chloe looked confused, but began opening the bag.  She pulled out the box, and catching his eyes for a moment, opened it.  She gasped at what was inside.  
  
"What is it Chloe?"  Clark asked.  
  
She turned the box around to show him  "It's the Phantom Zone crystal."  
  
Clark's eyes had gone cold when he turned back to Davis.  "You better explain that RIGHT NOW."  
  


* * *

  
  
Davis was startled by Clark's vehement reaction to the Phantom Zone crystal, but explained that it had been sent to him at the Emergency International camp after Tess Mercer's death.  
  
Chloe cursed roundly.  "That bitch!  After everything we went through with the Kandorians, and Desaad, and Apocalypse!  You'd think at some point she would say 'Oh, hey, guys!  I lied about destroying the crystal.  Would it help if we could send these baddies to the Phantom Zone right about now?' "  
  
Victor was shaking his head.  "I swear I will never understand that woman."  
  
"Me either," Clark agreed, before turning back to Davis.  "So how did you end up in Emergency International?  How did she know to send this to you there?"  
  
"Well, she is the one that set it all up."  Then Davis explained about her recovering him from the ruins of the plant and giving him a new fake identity and getting him into Emergency International.  
  
Chloe's voice was soft as she said, "Davis told me once that was what he would do if he couldn't be an EMT."  
  
He nodded, holding her confused eyes with his own, begging her to believe him.  
  
"Why did you agree to that?  Why didn't you return..."  
  
The unsaid words hung in the air... _Why didn't you return to me?_  
  
Davis eyes turned sad and dark.  "Tess told me about Jimmy.  She told me...I killed him.  A first I didn't understand, but then it came to me.  The thing that was in my head.  The thing twisting my mind and thoughts -- "  
  
"The Darkness," Chloe supplied.  
  
"Yes.  Somehow it had been given form too during the split.  A thing that was part me, and part Doomsday."  He paused, holding her eyes.  "An evil thing that killed someone you loved."  He swallowed the lump in his throat.  "Then tried to kill you!  And it came from me!"  He turned away.  "It was too much.  The pain, the shame.  After everything you had gone through to save me, and to have that happen.  It was my fault.  Then when Tess threatened --"  
  
"Tess threatened you?"  Chloe cut in.  
  
Davis shook his head.  "No."  He held her gaze.  "Tess threatened _you._ "  
  
Chloe stood for a moment in shock.  
  
Davis continued.  "She said with everyone thinking I was dead and Doomsday contained for good, that Clark would finally be on his way to his destiny.  Then she offered me a chance at a new life -- a new life far from Metropolis.  I took her up on that."  
  
"So you went away just like that?"  Chloe asked.  
  
"Yes.  After all that had happeneed because of me, after all the pain I had caused, and the lives I had taken...I saw it as my chance to atone for my sins."  He paused, holding her gaze.  "Surely, you can understand that?"  
  
She didn't reply.  
  
Davis shot a quick look over at Clark.  Clark's face had softened somewhat, though his impassive expression made it clear he still didn't feel kindly towards Davis.  While Clark believed his story, he still wouldn't forget the pain Davis had caused those years ago.  
  
Davis returned his attention to Chloe.  Did _she_ believe him?  
  
Her eyes were hot with some overwhelming emotion as she approached him slowly.  "I only have one question left for you."  
  
"Alright, " Davis nodded.  
  
"Are you as impervious as Clark?  Like can you be hurt or feel pain from things besides Doomsday?"  
  
Davis was confused by the question, but replied.  "Yes, I can feel pain and be hurt, but I heal quickly from injuries that aren't caused by the monster."  
  
"Good,"  Chloe said, then hit him with a hard right hook to the jaw that almost sent him reeling backwards.


	7. Chapter 7

Chloe had punched him!  
  
"Ow!" he said, part in shock and part in pain, turning back to look at her incredulously.  He'd never imagined such a reaction to his story.  
  
"Well, I guess that answers the question of if Chloe believes his story or not," Clark muttered to Victor.  Victor nodded in reply, cautiously lowering his guns.  
  
But Chloe wasn't quite done yet.  "How DARE you run off and leave me thinking that he was you and you were dead!  Why didn't you tell me any of what really happened?  Do you have any idea what that did to me?  How messed up I was after that?  Then you come crawling back now?!  What the hell is wrong with you?!"  she screamed, her eyes spitting green fire.  
  
"Chloe!  She threatened you!  Tess would have hurt you -- maybe even killed you -- if I didn't agree to her terms."  His voice modulated.  "After everything else, I couldn't let that happen."  
  
That gave Chloe pause.  Tess Mercer had proven herself more than capable of doing just about anything she thought necessary in her fanatical devotion to Clark's destiny and what she saw as saving the world.  Chloe could well believe the woman would have hurt her to gain Davis' cooperation.  After all, Tess had come after her here in this very room when she had figured out Chloe was the mysterious Watchtower that Checkmate had sought.  
  
"So you ran away," Chloe said flatly, not giving any indication of her thoughts.  
  
Davis hesitated before replying.  "Yes."  
  
"So why are you back now?"  
  
Davis sighed.  "The quakes.  Doomsday is trying to rise.  And one of the few things that I think Tess Mercer may have gotten right, is that my part in this isn't over.  I'm here to help you against the monster."  
  
Chloe's face had softened somewhat and that gave him hope.  
  
"You mean with the Phantom Zone key?"  Clark asked.  
  
Davis shrugged and faced the other Kryptonian.  "In whatever way I can.  I have a lot to make up for."  Davis' eyes cut to Chloe then back to Clark.  "I felt the quake that hit today.  It was pretty intense."  
  
"Yeah, especially for a stable area like Kansas," Victor put in.  
  
"Chloe said it will only take two or three more quakes like the one today to completely compromise the Geothermal Plant structure."  Clark paused, then continued.  "And it gets worse.  We think Lex Luthor knows about the monster -- or at least, thinks he does.  Most likely he detected its Kryptonian origin -- "  
  
Davis understood instantly.  "And he thinks it might be something he can use against Superman."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"But would he also be able to detect Davis' alien origins as well?"  Victor asked.  
  
Chloe finally jumped in.  "No, I don't think so.  Davis is from _this_ planet.  He was created _here_ to be Doomsday's human counterpart.  So while he may be Kryptonian in origin, he was born here."  
  
Davis had never thought of it that way, but she was right.  His creation might have been in a Kryptonian lab, but he had been formed as a man here on Earth.  And since he had been split from Doomsday, did that make his humanity real?  His heart raced at the thought.  He would love nothing more than to be a normal human being.  
  
"And besides, if it were that easy, surely Lex would have found him long before this, " Victor added.  
  
The simple truth of that made Davis joy dim slightly.  He wasn't a human really.  Not in the way that he might have wished.  But that wasn't what was needed now anyway.  They needed Doomsday's weakness -- the creature's other half.  They needed _him._  
  
"Alright.  So where does that leave us now?  Where do we go from here?" Clark asked.  
  
Chloe had an answer ready.  "Well, I think for starters we should figure out what Lex has been doing that has caused Doomsday to stir.  The creature had been quiescent for years before this.  Maybe we can shut down whatever Baldy has going and stop this before Doomsday can get out."  
  
"And what about him?" Victor asked, gesturing to Davis.  "Should we secure him?"  
  
Davis' mouth went dry at those words.  He'd been "secured" twice before with disastrous results.  The first time he had allowed himself to be caged by Chloe so they could end his life with liquid kryptonite.  It hadn't gone as planned.  Instead, he had suffered horrible pain and death only to be reborn with a kryptonite immunity.  The second time, had been when Oliver and his team had captured him, and brought him to the Geothermal plant.  That had ended even worse -- with his evil sides unleashed upon the world...and the subsequent death of Jimmy Olsen.  
  
He had a horrible fear of what may happen if he was contained again, especially when he had so clearly been drawn here for a reason.  
  
But before he could voice a protest, Chloe's voice rang out with a ringing, "NO!" that caused everyone else in the room to look at her in surprise.  
  
"What do you mean 'No', Chloe?"  Clark asked her, obviously confused.  "Clearly you would be in more danger than anyone else.  Don't you want him locked up?"  
  
"No, Clark.  He's been free all this time, and if he was going to be a threat to us, it would have happened by now," she responded in a reasonable tone.  
  
"Chloe, he's still a criminal.  The murdered people in that field -- those were on him," Clark pointed out.  "He's not safe."  
  
"Safe?"  Chloe asked, with a pointedly arched brow.  "As I recall, it wasn't that many years ago that _you_ went all September 11th and took down the Luthorcorp Towers."  Clark looked away with shamed eyes.  Chloe continued.  "I'm a trained Suicide Squad member, and have broken into more federal databases and secure buildings than I can count."  She waved a hand at Cyborg.  "Victor here still has about a two dozen weapons built in, including DNA tracking models, and doesn't need sleep."  She lifted up a hand and started dropping a finger with each of her next points.  "On speed dial we have the world-class archer that murdered Lex Luthor, a woman with a voice than can liquefy your brain, a boy that can nearly outrace time, and a sorceress that almost opened the gates of hell!"  She gestured around the Watchtower.  "None of us are _SAFE_ people."  
  
"But, he --" Clark started, but Chloe cut him off again.  
  
"No, Clark!  We certainly can't keep him locked up here."  She waved a hand at the sensitive material and high-end equipment all over the room.  "And he'd do us no good rotting in some jail cell.  Assuming we could even get the police to accept he really _is_ Davis Bloome -- who I may remind you they released the dead body of to Oliver years ago.  On top of that, remember how the police released that the DNA found with the field murders wasn't human?  How would we go about explaining all that, huh?"  She glared at Clark for a moment, but this time he didn't have a response.  Seeing victory, she went on, more gently, "I'm not saying let's welcome him with open arms."  She turned a cold gaze back to Davis for the first time since the argument had begun.  "But I am saying let's use him.  Let's give him this chance at redemption he says he wants."  She turned back to Clark.  "It is what we do, isn't it?  Balance the scales?  See justice done?  So let's verify his story, and if it checks out, let's give him the chance to work on righting his wrongs."  
  
"I agree with Chloe."  Victor put in, retracting his guns.  "He says he can he can help against the monster?  We should let him," he paused, then added, "We can always throw him in jail after."


	8. Chapter 8

It only took a few moments for Victor to verify that "Aiden Kell" had been part of Emergency International for the past few years and had never returned to the United States until a few days ago.  
  
Spinning back around in his chair, Victor looked up at Clark.  "Alright, so everything he said checks out...so what now?"  
  
"Chloe was right, we should see what Lex is up to and if it can be stopped."  Clark turned to Davis.  "You up for this?"  
  
Davis nodded mutely.  
  
"You know I'm going too, right?"  Chloe put in.  
  
"Of course."  Clark smiled at her gently.  "We are breaking into a Luthorcorp facility.  That is kind of your M.O."  
  
Chloe smiled broadly in reply.  
  
"When?"  Victor asked.  
  
"Tonight," Clark and Chloe said together.  
  


* * *

  
  
Later, Davis walked out of the lobby of the Watchtower building, and pausing outside the door, took a deep breath of the Metropolis air.  Even though it was thick with dust and exhaust, the breath calmed him because it smelled like home in a way the clean fresh air of the jungle never had.  He walked across the street and found a bench outside what looked like a small garden and sat down to think.  
  
He could barely countenance all that had happened in the last few hours.  He had almost been made a prisoner again.  He had known that was a risk he took by returning, but to have it come some close had filled him with fear.  Worse, his instincts had been right.  Doomsday was trying to break free, and was already much too close to doing so thanks to Lex Luthor.  
  
But most of all, he had seen Chloe again.  
  
 _Chloe._  
  
While it was clear she harbored a great deal of anger and resentment toward him, he found that actually gave him hope.  She couldn't possibly be so put out at him if she didn't feel _something_ for him.  Though what exactly that something was, he couldn't guess.  Still...maybe they could come to some sort of peace.  Maybe even become friends again.  
  
He didn't dare hope that that even part of the flame that still burned in his heart might still have a small place in hers.  
  
Now that he had seen her, he knew he had been a fool to imagine for even a moment that he would have been able to keep away from her.  She was different, yes, but he found that only meant he wanted to know her all over again.  
  
But outside the mission, would she want to know him again too?  
  


* * *

  
  
"What is he doing now?" Clark asked Victor and Chloe again for the fifth time in as many minutes.  
  
Chloe let out an exasperated sigh.  "Clark, he is doing the same thing he has for the past hour.  He is sitting on a bench outside, apparently thinking."  
  
"You are sure that is all?"  The big man crowded in next to Victor so he could better see the surveillance screen on Chloe's desktop.  
  
"Yes!"  She replied with obvious annoyance.  "You know I can put this up on another monitor if you wish to watch him more closely.  Or you can even go outside to stalk him."  She pointedly eyed his costume.  
  
Clark flushed and backed away.  "I just want to know what he is up to."  
  
"Fine then."  Chloe pushed back her chair.  "Since it is obvious we won't get anywhere with trying to locate this secret base the Lex must be building until you know why Davis Bloome is sitting on a bench, I'll just go ask him."  
  
"No, Chloe!  This isn't what I meant!  I just wanted to be sure..."  
  
Her eyes were alight with fire.  "Sure of what, Clark?  That he won't kill anyone?  That he won't somehow morph into Doomsday again?"  
  
"That he won't take you away again," Clark replied in a soft voice.  
  
Chloe instantly softened.  "Clark, it isn't like that now."  
  
"I know that, Chloe!"  he replied with some heat of his own, before softening his voice once more.  "It's just that I don't want to lose you again.  Not like that."  
  
Chloe smiled at her friend with a trace of sadness.  Victor had quietly slipped away to allow them to talk more privately.  He was thoughtful like that.  "Clark, after everything that has happened the last few years, it is going to take time, but we have to learn to trust each other's judgement again.  So try to trust me when I say, things are different this time around."  
  
Clark was quiet for a long moment studying her, before he asked quietly, "Chloe, I never asked, because I didn't think it was my place, with Jimmy and everything, but...did you love him?  Davis, I mean."  
  
Turning back to the screen, Chloe stared at Davis' image.  He still sat quietly on the bench just down the street from Watchtower.  Davis was here.  Just outside.  Her heart started racing, and she hoped Clark didn't have his super-hearing turned on to catch the sound.  As much as she had chided Clark for stalking Davis since he had left, her own eyes couldn't get enough of him.  "Yes, Clark.  I loved him."  
  
She heard him take a deep breath, and she felt an old pain from him in the action.  He still felt the pain of her "betrayal" all those years ago when she had run away with Davis.  He had never accepted she had left Metropolis for him as much as for Davis.  
  
"Do you still love him?"  
  
She watched Davis run a hand through his hair on the screen.  It was much longer now, and she idly wondered if it was still just as soft as it had been years ago.  Watching him, she decided she kind of liked it this way.  It would be easier to sink her fingers into if he --  
  
She quickly cut off that thought, but kept watching him for a moment more before answering Clark.  
  
"Honestly, Clark, I don't know."


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey."  
  
Davis head snapped up at the soft greeting to see Chloe standing before him.  Her bright hair shone in the afternoon light.  He couldn't help his smile as he replied, "Hey."  He scooted over on the bench to give her room to sit down.  
  
She sat, but he noticed the careful distance she kept between them.  
  
They were both silent for a long moment, unsure how to proceed.  
  
"Chloe, I'm sorry --"  
"Davis, I don't --"  
  
They stumbled over their own words, but somehow the halted phrases broke the tension between them and they found they were smiling at each other.  
  
"This is weird for you too, isn't it?" Chloe asked, tilting her head slightly in question.  
  
Davis felt a half-smile curl his lips.  "You have no idea."  He glanced away then back at her.  "I mean...even just hearing my name again.  It's strange.  I haven't been 'Davis' for years now."  He looked away and his smile faltered.  "I'm not sure I want to be him again."  
  
Chloe searched his face.  "Who do you want to be?"  
  
Davis looked back at her, his eyes deep and intent.  "Are you sure you want to know?"  
  
Chloe swallowed.  She wasn't sure of the answer.  Deep in her heart, part of her screamed _YES!_ but another part of her remembered all the pain he had caused -- remembered Jimmy's awful death, and that the creature who had done that had been born from this man.  Remembered how broken she had been afterwards and how Davis had left without her knowing he was even alive.  Remembered he had said he was back because of Doomsday and the quakes -- he wasn't back because of her.  
  
 _He's not safe, Chloe!_  
  
Clark was right about that.  
  
So why was she here?  
  
She cleared her throat, ignoring his question to which she didn't really have an answer.  "So I don't know what you expected to happen when you came back, but I'm guessing what happened in Watchtower earlier wasn't it."  
  
Davis rubbed his jaw as that old charming half-smile of his returned to his face.  "No. Definitely not what I expected."  
  
Chloe smiled.  "I'd say I was sorry, but I'm not."  
  
Davis dropped his hand, but kept smiling back.  "No.  And I must admit you were justified."  He paused, then continued.  "Though I hope going forward, we can meet on more friendly terms."  
  
Chloe smiled again, looking at him.  "Well, I've been here almost three full minutes, and I haven't punched you yet."  
  
He smiled and nodded.  "True, but it took you a bit to work up to the first one.  I don't think I'm out of the woods yet."  
  
"Also true."  
  
"Is there anything I can do to diffuse any upcoming blows?"  
  
Chloe bit her lip, thinking for a moment.  He was giving her an opening to ask him something, but she wasn't sure what to ask, or even if she wanted an answer.  She was also pretty sure Clark was watching them, and most likely listening in as well.  Of all the questions she had for Davis, she wasn't sure if she wanted Clark to know the answers too.  So she settled on something impersonal.  
  
"You could tell me how you knew to come back here.  You were on a completely different continent, so you couldn't have felt the quakes, and I doubt you had much of a news cycle in the rain forest."  
  
Davis smile skittered away, and Chloe found herself sorry to see it go.  She quickly chided herself for the foolish feeling.  
  
Davis had knitted his hand together as if he was praying, and for a time Chloe wasn't sure if he would answer when his soft voice started, "I've been having dreams."  
  
"Dreams?"  
  
"Yeah.  Or actually, nightmares.  Of Doomsday rising again and coming after Metropolis again.  After Clark."  He turned to face her with worried eyes.  "After you."  
  
"Me?"  Chloe asked in surprise.  "Why would he come after me now?  I don't have any power over it, not since  --"  
  
Davis nodded, looking at her with bottomless brown eyes.  "But you _did_.  Through me.  And it wants to destroy me and everything I hold -- I mean _held_ \-- dear."  
  
Chloe didn't know how to respond to that.  He had corrected himself, but she somehow felt he had done so for her sake, so as not to scare her.  Did that mean he still loved her?  No, it was impossible.  It had been years and he had never once tried to contact her.  If he had loved her, he would have reached out, surely?  
  
Davis' words came back to her -- _She threatened you, Chloe!  She would have hurt or killed you!_  
  
Chloe shook her head, chasing the confusing conflict of emotions away, and refocused on the matter at hand.  "So you came back to Metropolis because of some bad dreams?"  
  
This time, it was Davis who shook his head.  "No.  I'd been having the dreams for weeks.  I came when I felt the first quake."  
  
"But you were --" Chloe started to say.  
  
He shook his head again, cutting her off.  "Not that I actually felt the quake, I mean.  I felt Doomsday through the quake.  I felt the monster trying to break free."  He looked at her with frightened eyes.  "Chloe, I was thousands of miles away and I felt it.  I felt the-the _wrongness_ of The Beast surging up, and I knew I had to come back."  He looked away again, and she felt there was more to the story, but after a long moment, it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate any further.  
  
"So you came and found me at Watchtower."  
  
Davis lips quirked in a self-depreciating way.  "Actually, I was trying to find Clark.  Then the second quake hit, and I found myself rushing for here."  He turned the smile on her.  "I guess it was foolish for me to think I could come here and not see you."  
  
Chloe ignored the meaning she sensed seething under the comment and laughed it off instead.  "Yeah, well, a few weeks ago, you wouldn't have found me here."  
  
Davis smile faded.  "Oh yes, I'd heard."  He glanced down at her naked left hand pointedly.  
  
Chloe again ignored the obvious question, and asked one of her own instead.  "So you came to Watchtower looking for...Clark?"  
  
"No, I didn't say that.  I said I was looking for Clark, then found myself at Watchtower."  He smiled wryly.  "Turns out I was really looking for you."  
  
Chloe didn't know what to say to that.  Too many thoughts and feelings were pressing in on her at his sudden reappearance.  She needed time to think, to process.  
  
"Davis -- "  
  
He cut her off.  "I know Chloe.  It's a lot.  We can just focus on the mission."  Again he gave that warm half-smile that still had a shockingly melting effect on her senses.  "I mean, it is an indestructible killing machine from another planet out to destroy the city, Superman, and the world.  That should give us a little bit of distraction."  
  
She couldn't help the laughter that burst forth at his succinct description of the problem.  "Oh yes, and don't forget the possible involvement of an evil genius billionaire as well."  
  
"Ah yes, him too, of course."  
  
Chloe got up from the bench.  "Well, that said, I've got to head back inside.  If we are going to do this thing tonight, there is some planning that must be done."  
  
"Alright," Davis nodded in reply.  
  
Chloe turned to leave, when Davis voice stopped her.  "Chloe, I know nothing is like it was, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends again."  
  
She turned back to look at him.  He had his hands clasped still, and his eyes were deep brown pools at they gazed at her.  She took a step back to him.  "You're right, Davis.  It isn't like it was."  She paused turning things over in her mind.  "As for being friends...I don't know.  There is still so much...unresolved.  We will have to see."  She turned away again and started back to the tower, when she heard him call out to her.  
  
"I think it can work, Chloe.  We're already making progress.  You were here for almost a half-hour and didn't punch me!"  
  
She didn't turn back at his words, but Chloe ducked her head to hide her smile as she walked back into Watchtower.


	10. Chapter 10

It took several hours, but Chloe, Clark, and Victor worked together to form a plan on how best to investigate the area around the former Geothermal Plant without disturbing the areas that still contained Doomsday.  After a few hours rest, the team members and Davis met up in Watchtower once more.  
  


* * *

 

  
"The most stable area of complex is on the eastern side," Victor explained as he pointed the area out on a schematic diagram to Clark, Chloe, and Davis.  "If Lex has set up some sort of secret entrance into the unstable sections that house Doomsday, he probably would have done it there."  He turned to Clark.  "When you did your earlier sweep, did you get to this area?"  
  
"No, Chloe pulled me out before I got to that part because of the quake."  He turned to smile at the blonde, taking any sting of rebuke from his words.  "We couldn't have Doomsday sense me there if he was close to the surface."  
  
Victor nodded.  "That is still a risk.  It is possible that Doomsday will feel the presence of either you or Davis at the site, but unfortunately, it is a risk we have to take.  You two would be the most sensitive to anything Kryptonian that Lex may have down there.  It is also possible that with you down there, if there are any weak points in the monster's prison, you can shut them down."  
  
Davis turned to Clark.  "Poking around an unstable prison on the off-chance Lex is somehow involved seems risky to me.  Can't you scan the area with X-ray vision without us having to go in?"  
  
Clark shook his head.  "No.  Between the lead shielding that was part of the original plant and Lex's own knowledge of my X-ray vision and it's limitations, there is too much blocked off for me to see very far into the structure.  We have to go in person."  
  
"But why does it matter if Lex is involved?  My concern is for Doomsday, not him."  
  
"Because if Lex has somehow figured out a way to harness Doomsday's power, we could have bigger problems.  Besides, we learned a long time ago not to trust Lex Luthor when it comes to secrets," Clark answered.  
  
"Alright, but what do we do if Doomsday senses us and breaks out?" Davis asked.  
  
"That is what we are working to prevent," Clark replied, his expression determined.  
  
Davis could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere right now.  For reasons he didn't quite grasp, the others were determined to search for some possible secret lab.  Though if Lex was anything like his dead half-sister, they might have a point in being concerned with his plans.  Well, he'd let them do their searching.  This mission would still give him the chance to see how Doomsday's prison stood.  
  
"Any other questions?" Victor asked.  
  
No one spoke up.  
  
"Fine, then suit up.  It's going to be a long night."  
  


* * *

  
  
Looking out the back window of Clark's truck, Davis reflected on how strange it was to be going back to the Geothermal Plant after all this time.  So much had happened there -- he'd been drugged and taken there by Oliver and his team, had his monstrous selves split off, lost Chloe, saved Clark, fought Doomsday...and he'd died.  Again.  
  
And now he was going back.  With Clark (aka Superman, though he currently had a coat thrown over his distinctive costume) and Chloe at his side to look for a secret lab and check in on his monstrous alter-ego.  
  
It was almost too strange for belief when he though that just a few days ago he was just an aid worker in the middle of the rain forest.  
  
No one had brought up his powers, which worried Davis somewhat.  He didn't know if it was their way of respecting his wishes to redeem himself as a man, or if they expected he would use them when the need arose.  Honestly, Davis wasn't even sure how he felt about his powers right now.  When he'd decided to forsake his Kryptonian side, it was so he could work to better mankind as one of them.  It was his penance.  But could a man hope to stand against The Beast?  
  
Not likely.  But if he broke his vow and used his powers -- even if only against Doomsday -- did that undo all the good he had done as Aidan Kell?  
  
He wasn't sure.  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe's eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror again to watch Davis in the backseat of the truck.  He appeared to be deep in thought judging by the crease between his brows.  She expected returning to the scene of so much pain for him must be straining.  
  
She felt Clark looking at her from the driver's seat and quickly looked away from the mirror.  She knew Clark was concerned about her with Davis' reappearance.  He had so carefully _not_ asked about her conversation with Davis on the bench that she was sure he had been listening in.  She knew Clark was trying to give her space to decide for herself what to think about Davis, but disapproval flowed off of him in waves.  He wanted to keep the other Kryptonian as far from them, or really -- _from her_ \-- as possible.  Not that she could entirely blame him.  Clark hadn't exactly had many good experiences with others from his planet...including Davis.  Clark could forgive with time, but that forgiveness had to be earned.  And despite what he had learned of Davis' actions saving him in the Geothermal plant years ago, Chloe knew that in his heart. Clark wasn't close to letting go of his anger.  
  
She sighed.  She shouldn't be annoyed at Clark for how he felt about Davis.  She wasn't sure what she thought of him either right now.  It had been easier when he had first showed up at Watchtower this morning.  Then she'd had anger to shield her.  She could bury her hurt behind rage at his leaving, rage at his deception, rage at his unexpected return.  
  
But then she'd gone out to that damn bench to talk to him...and it had almost felt like nothing had changed.  Despite sensing he was still hiding something, he'd been open and vulnerable in the way she'd remembered.  And when he had smiled...it had been the same warm smile.  The one had had given he so often in days long gone.  And as they had talked, she had felt the shadow of the easiness that had been between them from the first moment they had met.  
  
That last was what had scared her the most.  The thought that she could so easily slip back into the past with him unnerved her.  She wasn't the same person she had been then...and she didn't think he was either.  
  
_But still..._  
  
Without conscious thought, her eyes flicked back to the rearview mirror again.  
  


* * *

  
  
Pulling the truck off the end of the drive just short of the fence circling the closed plant, Clark announced, "We're here."  
  
Cyborg's voiced crackled in their earpieces.  "I read you.  I'm not detecting anyone near your position.  Proceed with the plan."  
  
Chloe nodded and pulled on a black ski mask.  Davis did the same.  
  
Clark, on the other hand, divested himself of his coat, exposing his bright red, blue, and yellow suit.  
  
Davis noted how he and Chloe sought to conceal their true identities, while Clark -- or rather, _Superman_ \-- had his face out for the world and lived his normal life as a disguise.  
  
Davis found himself strangely unnerved by that.  It seemed like a purified reflection of what had once been his own life.  Once he'd been out on the streets of Metropolis saving lives as a paramedic, but at the same time, he had also been taking the lives of the wicked and guilty to keep The Beast contained.  He wondered now which had been his real life and which had just been a cover.  
  
Now he also had his life as Aidan Kell -- where all the work he did and the lives he saved were true, but nothing else about him was.  
  
He looked down at himself, covered in black from head to foot, ready to break into a monster's home base, and wondered who the hell he was now.  
  
Then he caught Chloe looking at him.  He couldn't see anything of her face except her eyes, but he saw them sparkle with excitement.  
  
That was when he decided, that whoever he was -- Davis, Aidan, or someone else altogether --  he would be the one that kept her safe.  
  


* * *

  
  
Clark flew Chloe over the fence, and after a questioning look at Davis to see if he was willing to use his powers to join them, came back and carried the other man over as well.  Though it was a strange and uncomfortable experience to be carried by the big man, Davis wasn't willing to break his taboo against using his powers for such a weak reason as pride.  
  
Following the course they had predetermined, the group made its way to what had once been the east side of the plant.  Once there, they rooted around in the debris until they uncovered a well-concealed entrance.  Chloe bent down to examine the hidden hatch, shining the red light of her flashlight around the portal.  
  
"The metal is new.  Not corroded or damaged like the rest, and see here --" She pointed to the hinges.  "These are well-oiled."  She looked up at the men.  "I'm afraid we might be right in our hunch that something is going on out here."  
  
Clark's jaw tightened and he nodded, unsurprised.  "Then we should assume they will have security measures in effect too."  
  
"Right you are," Chloe agreed, already slinging her backpack from her shoulder.  She quickly pulled out a sleek-looking laptop and plugged several cables into it.  She then attached the cables to suction-cup looking devices and put them onto the hatch door.  After a moment, Chloe's screen lit up with a dim image of a hallway.  "Alright, Victor, we're looking inside the hatch now.  Sending image to you too."  She looked up and caught Davis surprised expression at the advanced technology.  She smiled broadly.  "I tapped into their wireless security network by grounding through this door.  Even without Brainiac in my head, I've picked up  few tricks."  Davis smiled back at her widely, obviously proud of her cleverness.  
  
Chloe felt suddenly shy at the obvious approval, and looked back down to hide any tell-tale flush.  But as soon as her eyes were back on the screen, she was instantly back on target.  "I see only basic security cameras from here.  No signs of infrared or lasers detection, though that would be hard to see through the link.  My guess is that they might have the higher-level stuff farther on.  They wouldn't want anything back here to ping as 'secret lab' if we were just kids or junkies or other undesirable, but ultimately harmless trespassers.  The main defense for this place would be its anonymity...at least, at first."  
  
"So how do you want to proceed?" Clark asked.  
  
Chloe pulled off her ski-mask, and gave her hair a shake to make it float wildly around her.  Then she reached a hand into her backpack again and pulled out a can of spray paint.  With a wicked grin she shook the can and said, "We be run-of-the-mill undesirables."  
  


* * *

  
  
The two black-clad punks were falling all over each other as they tumbled through the hatch and into the outer hallway of the former East Wing of the Geothermal facility.  
  
Phil, the guard watching the security feed perked up as their appearance.  It wasn't all that uncommon for some ne'er-do-well to stumble around the old plant.  Hipsters who called themselves 'urban explorers', kids looking to drink cheap beer and make out, and transients were undeterred by the fences and signs telling them the area was private and hazardous.  As long as they didn't make it past the first passage, they were directed to leave them be.  Keeping the main operation hidden was more important than kicking out a few random vandals.  Still...those spray cans had Phil worried.  
  
The security cameras were tucked amongst cracks in the rubble of the hall, made to look like part of the other debris of the former facility, but if these punks decided to start tagging the walls, they could cover his concealed camera lenses, leaving him blind.  
  
Phil chewed his lip, unsure what to do.  
  
Then they started painting and Phil's anxiety grew.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Really, Davis?"  Chloe hissed at him.  "A smiley face?  You spray-painted a smiley face?"  
  
"What?" Davis hissed back.  "The eyes perfectly covered the lens over here."  
  
"Yeah, but weren't you a tough foster kid?  I'd think you'd have a better tag than a smiley face," Chloe shot him a teasing smile.  
  
Davis rolled his eyes as Chloe put the final flourish on her anarchy A, obscuring another camera lens.  
  
"Do we want to cover all of them?" Davis asked as he started painting on another wall.  
  
"No," Chloe replied. "We want to leave one facing the doorway open."  
  
Davis nodded, understanding.  "So they can see us 'leave', right?"  
  
"Right.  Then Clark can zip us back in with superspeed and we can take out the next door, unseen and unsuspected."  
  


* * *

  
  
_Crap.  Crap, crap, crap!_ Phil thought, seeing the two punks scrawl across walls, blocking out his cameras as they went.  If he lost sight, he'd have to alert --  
  
The taggers had stopped and were now high-fiving and hugging each other as they surveyed their handiwork inside the tunnel, gesturing enthusiastically.  The jerks had left him only a single working camera, but at least they were leaving now.  He'd have to file a report to get the cameras cleaned and remounted, but at least he didn't have to set off the alert.  
  
Turning away from the bank of now mostly-useless screens, Phil pulled up the work order form and began filling it out.  
  
He didn't notice the split-second blur that passed the single working camera.  
  


* * *

 

Working remotely with Victor, Chloe had the heavily secured door past the hallway open in minutes.  Winding up her cables, she muttered, "Lucky for us Lex doesn't remember I've been breaking into Luthorcorp -- err, _Lexcorp_ \-- facilities since I was 13.  You'd think he would invest into some new technology."  
  
Clark smiled down at his friend.  "Well, like you said, he doesn't remember enough to fear your mad skills, Chloe."  
  
"True, and Superman isn't really known for his subtlety in breaking into places.  Usually it is all just smashy-smashy."  
  
"Hey!" Clark protested, though he couldn't deny the accusation.  He _did_ have a rather large amount of property damage under his belt.  
  
"Ok, now hold on a moment, while I scan this next room," Chloe instructed.  
  
Davis squinted into the darkness of the open room, an uneasy sensation running along his skin.  "Chloe I think there is something here.  I feel it --"  
  
Chloe and Clark turned sharp gazes on him.  "Something like Doomsday?" Clark asked, his voice sharp.  
  
"No, something else.  A power, but not alien."  
  
Victor's voice came over their earpieces.  "He's right.  It's not alien, but there is a laser grid."  
  
Clark nodded.  "Ok, then.  Step back a moment.  I can freeze it."  
  
"Freeze the laser grid?" Davis asked in surprise.  
  
"Sort of," Chloe shrugged.  "You'll see.  Just be ready to move as soon as he is done."  
  
Clark let out a stream of roiling cold across the doorway.  As it traveled, the beams of the lasers became visible as red lines of light for a moment before ice crystallized over the laser housings and the lights went dim.  
  
"We'll only have a moment before they defrost.  Let's go!" Without delay, Clark scooped up Chloe and raced across the room at super speed -- with Davis trailing behind him.  
  
Davis looked back across the room at the laser beams as they started to become visible once more before returning to their unseen state.  With a final leap to the doorway on the far side of the laser field, the last light dimmed.  He'd just barely made it in time.  
  
Climbing back to his feet, he noted a deep frown on Clark's face, as if the other man was disappointed that he hadn't used his own superspeed.  
  
Before Davis could try to puzzle out Clark's strange reaction, the door in front of them opened up...and let in a pool of greenish light.  
  
That was the point when everything went to hell.  
  
"Kryptonite!"  Chloe screamed only a second before Clark fell to the ground writhing in agony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the next few chapters please forgive any technology or scientific errors. It is all in the name of "Smallville Science." :)


	11. Chapter 11

"It's a trap!" Chloe cried just as an unseen door slammed down from the ceiling, sealing Clark, Davis, and herself in the kryptonite-filled room.  The deadly rock seemed to be embedded everywhere in the room, filling the space with its alien green glow.  Clark fell to the the ground, screaming in agony, evil-looking green veins running through his skin.

"Victor!  Get us out of here now!"  she yelled into the earpiece.  
  
The only reply she got back was static.  
  
"Shit! Help me with him, Davis!" she cried, as she dropped down next to Clark.  "We have to get him out of here!"  
  
"I'll get him," Davis said, and easily threw the big man over his shoulder into a fireman's carry.  "Where to?" he asked, holding the groaning Clark secure.  
  
"We can't go back.  Lex would have made sure everything sealed behind us, but Clark won't be able to take this for much longer."  
  
As if on cue, Clark's struggles suddenly stopped and Davis felt him go limp.  He had passed out.  
  
"Oh no..." Chloe said, fear making her eyes big.  
  
"Ahead it is then," Davis said with finality, moving through the room.  "Keep your eyes open, there might be more traps."  
  
Just then an-evil looking gas started hissing into the room.  
  
"Run!" they both cried, bolting for the door visible at the far side of the room.   
  
Gas poured down on them, making both Davis and Chloe cough and their eyes burn.  Some instinct told Davis they weren't going to make it to the other side of the room before they were overcome.  While he could expect to survive as his body adjusted to overcome the new threat, -- Chloe and Clark wouldn't.  It was clear this was a trap that was not intended to leave survivors.  
  
When he heard Chloe stumble and fall behind him, Davis knew what he had to do.  
  
He knew the risk, especially this close to Doomsday, but if Chloe or Clark -- **_Superman_** \-- died, that would be the greatest evil he could imagine.  
  
He couldn't let that happen.  Even if he doomed his soul for breaking his vow -- even if it woke The Beast -- he had to do it.  
  
Davis began to channel from the great wellspring of power he had kept hidden away for so long.  
  
Strength flooded into him, making him stronger, faster, tougher.  It was incredible.  It was intoxicating...but it came at a price.  
  
Deep inside the earth below, Davis felt the eyes of the sleeping monster open and focus on him with laser-point accuracy.  The ground gave a slight tremor as the creature shifted deep inside its earthy prison.  Doomsday now knew he was here.  
  
With a conscious effort, Davis pushed his awareness of the monster to the back of his mind.  He had to get them all out of here and sever his connection to the linking power ASAP if any of them were going to get out of this alive.  He reached back and scooped Chloe up in his free arm.  
  
She weighed almost nothing.  He had forgotten that detail.  She was normally so full of life and vigor, that he hadn't remembered just how small a package she really was.  Though with the force of his Kryptonian power racing through him, even Clark's bulk over his shoulder seemed almost insignificant.  
  
Davis moved into superspeed.  As he approached the huge reinforced door at the far end of the room, he turned so his shoulder crashed through, tearing a huge hole in the thick steel while shielding his companions.  Once on the other side, Davis carefully laid Chloe and Clark down before turning back to the door.  He carefully bent the shredded pieces of metal back to close off the other room as best as he could.  The seal should be enough to block off the effects of the meteor rock, but not the gas that was still seeping through.  Scanning the room quickly, Davis saw he appeared to be in some sort of lab.  Large rolls of plastic sheeting lined the the walls and draped over metal tables full of equipment.  Davis moved to one wall, and stripped off the plastic covering.  Going back to the busted door, he covered it over with the plastic, blocking out the rest of the gas from the other room.  
  
Once the room was sealed off, Davis let the power drain away.  As it did, he knew Doomsday would lose focus on him, but the damage had already been done.  The monster knew he was here.  And close.  
  
He could only pray that The Beast wouldn't be able to do anything about it just yet.  
  
When he heard coughing behind him, Davis spun to see Chloe starting to rouse.  
  
Rushing to her side, he leaned over her and gently pushed strands of silky blonde hair away from her face.  "Chloe!  Chloe, are you ok?" he asked her, concern making his voice sound rough.  
  
"I'm fine," she replied in a scratchy voice, putting her hand over his in an unconsciously reassuring gesture.  
  
Davis froze.  Excluding the punch in Watchtower, it was the first time he had felt her touch in years.  Even as innocent as the gesture was, it sent a wave of heat through him.  He thought he felt a slight tremble go through her.  _Did she feel it too?_ He caught her eyes with his own, letting her see the fire in his gaze.  Fire for her.  She didn't pull away for a long moment, seemingly mesmerized, and Davis' heart began to pound.  
  
The moment was suddenly shattered as Clark groaned loudly next to them.  
  
"Clark!"  Chloe cried, her voice a mixture of relief and surprise as she turned towards Clark, breaking their tenuous contact.  Davis tried to suppress his sudden wave of irritation at the other man, reminding himself the other guy had almost died in extreme agony a few moments ago.  
  
"Chloe?"  Clark said dazedly.  "What happened?"  He sat up, cradling his forehead in his hands.  "The Kryptonite --"  
  
"Davis got us out," Chloe answered.  Her eyes shot over to him then back to Clark.  "He saved us both."  
  
Clark's eyes were quickly clearing, and he sat up, giving Davis a steady look.  "Thank you," he said, simply and with genuine sincerity.  
  
"Oh God," Chloe said, turning back to Davis, her eyes wide with realization.  "Are you OK, Davis?  The Kryptonite -- the gas -- and your vow not to use your powers -- "  
  
"I'm alright, Chloe.  It appears my Kryptonite immunity remains intact, and once I pulled on my powers, I recovered from the gas.  And as for my vow -- "  He tried for a careless shrug.  "What is the use of  redeeming myself if it means I had to let Superman die?"  
  
He didn't say the words aloud, but his eyes told her the truth.  _What is the use of  redeeming myself if it means I let YOU die?_  
  
Chloe cleared her throat and stood up, ignoring the penetrating look Clark was giving them.  "Alright, so where are we now, anyway?" she asked of no one in particular.  
  
Clark and Davis got up and looked around the room.  In his cursory inspection, Davis had noticed the metal lab tables covered in equipment, but hadn't looked much beyond that.  Now he moved closer to examine what was on the nearest table.  It looked like some sort of distillation setup with a number of colored liquids in vials.  He read the labels on the colored vials aloud, "Red...Blue...Gold...Green..."  He turned away from the labels to look at the others in confusion.  "Uh, isn't this labeling system kind of obvious?"  
  
"Let me see..." Clark said, approaching the table.  
  
As he got close, the green vial that was helpfully labeled "Green" began to glow.  
  
"Ah!  That's refined Kryptonite!"  Clark cried, backing away from the table again.  As he moved away, the green glow faded.  
  
Davis had a frightening thought tickle the back of his mind.  "Kryptonite?  But, it's...Does that mean...?"  He turned back to look at the colored vials then back to look at the recovering Clark. Chloe's face had gone cold and hard.  Davis saw the answer in her expression, but he had to hear the words aloud to be sure.  "There are other kinds of Kryptonite besides green?"  
  
"Yes," Chloe replied, her voice hard.  "And it looks like Lex has been refining them."  
  
Clark was still doubled over, his voice sounding harsh after his double Kryptonite exposure of the last few minutes, but his words held urgency.  "And if he is doing it here -- where he knows there is another Kryptonian being is trapped -- "  
  
Chloe's face reflected horror as she picked up Clark's thinking.  "Lex wants to use the monster as a guinea pig to test out the effects of the different kinds of Kryptonite.  Oh God, Clark!  He is going to dose Doomsday with Red-K!"


	12. Chapter 12

"I don't understand," Davis said, confused.  "What do the other colors of Kryptonite do?  Isn't Doomsday already bad enough?"  
  
Clark hesitated for a moment, then replied.  "The meteor rocks all have different effects, but if Lex tries to use the Red-K on Doomsday...that could be disastrous."  
  
"Why?  What does the Red-K do?"  Davis asked, curious.  
  
Clark was clearly uncomfortable, but replied, haltingly.  "It is kind of...unpredictable.  But basically, it removes inhibitions.  It can also bring out a...um...violent and dangerous side."  
  
Davis went cold.  Doomsday was already a terrible killing machine, but the monster did have a guiding purpose -- to seek out and destroy Clark.  The lives it took, and damage it caused achieving that purpose, were simply collateral damage...at least until it fulfilled its mission.  But to have Doomsday without even that single guidance....the causalities would be astronomical.  
  
  
Then a thought struck Davis.  "But what about the other kinds of Kryptonite?  Could they be used to weaken the monster?" he asked.  
  
Clark hesitated again before answering.  "Maybe..."  
  
"He does have a point, Clark," Chloe said from farther into the lab.  She was carefully looking over a collection of colorful meteorites.  "We can't let Lex use these meteorites against Superman, but they could be powerful weapons if we used them against Doomsday."  She paused, looking back up at her companions.  "As long as we can do so without Lex's knowledge."  
  
"So which ones should we take?" Davis asked, reaching towards a gold-colored rock.  
  
"No, Davis!  Don't!"  Clark cried.  
  
Davis pulled his hand back sharply at the warning.  The question forming on his lips suddenly drowned out by the sound of sirens as strobing red lights flashed on throughout the room.  
  
"We must have triggered some sort of alarm!"  Chloe said, looking around.  "We have to destroy this place and get out of here!"  
  
Clark turned to her.  "I'm useless in here, but I can go on ahead and look for another way out.  You and Davis destroy everything here."  Then he zoomed away in a whoosh of air to scout ahead.  
  
Chloe started searching around the lab.  "If I know Lex, he will have some way set up to quickly sanitize this area.  Look for anything labeled 'EMERGENCY' or the like."  
  
Davis started searching as well, but he didn't find anything like Chloe described.  He _did_ find a number of briefcase style cases that had been used to transport the meteors.  Glancing over a a lab table he saw several trays laid out with colorful meteor rock samples.  He started to get an idea.  
  
 _Chloe did say that it was possible these rocks could be used against Doomsday.  But which ones?  Red would just makes things worse.  Doomsday and I are already immune to the Green.  So maybe the Blue or Gold might be useful against the monster...?_  
  
With that though in mind, Davis picked up one tray that held a large piece of the Gold-K and two smaller pieces of the Blue-K.  He carefully spilled the rocks into the case, being careful not to touch them.  He slammed the lid shut on the case, just as Chloe called out.  
  
"Davis!  I found it!  Come help me open this valve!"  
  
Case in hand, Davis rushed to the other side of the room to find Chloe standing in front of a large valve.  "This is for some sort of sprinkler system  My guess is it contains lead particles to neutralize the kryptonite."  She gestured at the valve.  "But it's stuck.  Care to do the honors?"  
  
Carefully putting down the case, Davis put his well-used muscles to the task without pulling down any extra strength.  After a moment's resistance, the valve twisted in his grip, opening up the sprinkler system and showering the room in heavy, dirty water.  
  
He and Chloe watched as the water came into contact with the samples of kryptonite -- both rock and refined on the lab tables.  The samples began to sizzle and steam before each color dimmed, turning grey and inert.  
  
Chloe took a precious moment to smile at Davis in victory.  Even soaked to the skin with dirty, greyish water dripping through her hair and down her face, Davis thought Chloe's smile was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in years.  
  
From across the room, they heard Clark's voice call out.  "Hurry!  This way!"  
  
Davis picked up the case, and both he and Chloe shot across the room to meet up with Clark.  He had pulled open a set of reinforced doors that were trying very hard to close, but Superman was holding them open just wide enough for the others to slide by.  Once clear, Clark stepped away and let the heavy metal doors slam shut behind them with an ominous boom.  
  
Chloe pushed wet dirty hair away from her face, looking around the newly revealed section of the old geothermal plant.  
  
Davis stepped up beside her, also looking around.  His brow crinkled.  "This area looks a lot like the storage area where I fought Doomsday before.  When I distracted it away from Clark.  But this section is still mostly intact."  
  
Chloe nodded.  "There were two storage areas, one East and one West.  You were in the West section before."  
  
He looked down at her.  "So that means this area should connect to --"  
  
"The Core room.  Yes."  She finished for him.  
  
Clark's voice cut in.  "Davis?  What is that case you are holding?"  
  
"Oh this?"  Davis asked nonchalantly holding up the case.  "This is just a few samples of that technicolor meteor rock back there.  Thought it might help."  
  
Clark's face suffused with anger.  "Do you have any idea how dangerous --!"  
  
At that point, Davis' temper snapped.  "No, actually, I don't.  Care to enlighten me?  Or have you forgotten I am Kryptonian too and maybe I should also know about things that could kill me?"  
  
Clark's eyes cooled slightly.  "No, I haven't forgotten.  But I've learned the hard way that not everyone -- not even from Krypton -- has the best interests of Earth at heart.  That is why I'm here.  To guard this world and its people -- even if it's against other Kryptonians."  
  
Davis' own anger quickly melted away in the face of Clark's reasoning.  Even in the rain forest, Davis had heard about the sightings of others he was convinced were also aliens -- dangerous aliens.  "I'm not here to destroy, Clark.  No matter what you or anyone else may believe, I came here to help."  
  
Davis and Clark stood toe to toe for another moment, testing the resolve of the other.  After a long moment, they came to silent agreement and backed away from each other.  
  
"The Blue-K --" Clark started to say, but was cut off by Chloe.  
"What others, Davis?"  
  
"What?"  Davis asked in confusion.  
  
Her brow was furrowed.  "You said 'no matter what you or anyone else may believe'.  Who else doesn't think you are here to help?"  
  
Davis didn't get to finish his answer because they were all knocked off their feet as the ground began to shake.  
  
"The security measures going off must have destabilized this section as well.  We need to get out of here ASAP!"  Chloe cried, trying to stand up again.  
  
"No."  Davis replied, his eyes going wide.  "It's not the plant.  It's Doomsday."  He caught Chloe's frightened gaze.  "But you are right we have to get out of here now.  It's trying to break free again and with Clark and I both here, it might just succeed!"  
  
"This way!" Clark called, leaping into the air and leading the way forward, deeper into the old plant.  
  
Chloe and Davis sprinted behind, easily keeping the brilliant blue-and-red of Clark's Superman costume in view.  Davis suppressed his body's desire to channel from that teasingly desirable power that hovered just on the edge of his senses.  If he did that, Doomsday would instantly know they were coming its way.  Davis didn't have enough faith in the remaining solidity of the old plant to believe that if the creature became frenzied enough, it wouldn't either bring the building's fragile supports down on their heads or escape from the core and attack them all.  
  
A crackling, static noise started to come over their headsets.  "Super....Watch...the plant...Hello?  Anyone?"  
  
"Victor?  Is that you?"  Chloe cried into her headset.  
  
"Chloe?!"  Victor's voice came through more clearly.  "Yes, I'm here!  We lost coms for a while, but I's getting a read on the three of you again.  What's going on there?  My readings are going crazy."  
  
"We found and destroyed Lex's lab, but we seem to have woken up the monster.  We need an exit strategy.  Can't go back the way we came," she replied without losing a step in their mad dash after Clark.  
  
"Ok, let me see..."  They heard the sound of typing over the open com channel.  "Ok, back.  Bad news, the only possible way out from there is to go through the Core room itself then tunnel up through the debris and to freedom."  
  
The ground gave another rumble under their feet that caused them to stumble, but they kept running.  A moment later they all burst into the Core Room.  The shaft that led deep into the earth's core still took up most of the area, though it was chocked with building debris.  Given the ravaged state of the room, Davis was unsure where exactly he had squared off against the monster all those years ago, but the memory of it was still sharp in his mind.  He felt himself unconsciously drawn closer to the sealed edge of the pit where Doomsday was buried.  
  
As he approached, Davis felt a flood of emotions from the monster far below.  Rage.  A desire to be free.  Resolve.  Expectation.  
  
It wasn't going to stop until it broke out this time.  
  
"That isn't going to work!" Davis cried into his own com unit, as he turned away from the sealed pit.  "Doomsday knows we are here.  It is trying to destabilize the structure enough to break free from the collapsed core.  If we try to break through to the surface, it could bring this whole place down on our heads."  
  
"Then you need to find a way to stop its fighting, because that is your only chance!" Victor replied, his voice sounding frightened.  
  
Chloe's eyes cut over to Davis.  "I'm open to any ideas," she said.  
  
Davis started to shake his head, but the earth under their feet gave a sudden lurch, sending both of them sprawling.  The case with the Blue and Gold meteor rocks that Davis had been carrying went flying.  The case struck a large crate and sprang open, ejecting the stones from inside.  
  
As he watched the sparkling facets of the colored stones catch some of the low light in the room, a thought struck Davis.  He looked over at Chloe, who must have read something in his face.  "What are you thinking, Davis?" she asked.  
  
Davis explained, "Doomsday and I are still linked in some way.  We both channel from the same power source.  Maybe we can use that to weaken it long enough for us to get out of here."  
  
Suddenly Clark was back with them, helping them to their feet.  He too must have heard their conversation, because he said, "You think you can use the meteor rocks to stop the power flow to the monster by using them on yourself."  
  
Davis nodded.  
  
"The rocks might not work the same way on you as they do on me.  We also have to remember that you build immunity to things that harm you," Clark warned.  
  
"I know, but --" Davis' words were cut off as the room around them gave a violent shudder, and the light flickered.  He felt the monster's rage and anticipation build as it clawed at its prison, tearing into the supporting bedrock that had kept it trapped for so long.  He felt a leap of joy inside the creature as the rocks crumbled under its great claws.  
  
"We don't have time to argue.  What do these rocks do?  Could it work?" he cried at Clark.  
  
Clark's eyes searched his own - blue to brown for an endless moment before he said.  "Blue.  Use the Blue.  It suppresses our powers and makes us--"  
  
Davis felt his eyes go wide as he realized the implication.  "It makes us...human."  
  
Clark nodded.  "As long as the contact lasts.  But if you are injured or die while in contact with the Blue, you would be hurt or killed just like anyone else."  
  
Davis gave a crooked half-smile.  "So I guess I'll need Superman to protect me then."  
  
Clark smiled back.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Davis?" Chloe asked.  While the others talked, she had collected the case and the rocks.  Two of them were safely back inside, but in her hand rested a shining blue piece of rock.  
  
The room rumbled again and they all heard the loud **_CRACK!_.**   Looking up in sudden fear, a gap appeared in the concrete support over their heads.  
  
"We're out of time!"  Davis cried then opened himself completely to his Kryptonian power.  He felt the warm light of his heritage radiate through him, making him impossibly strong, fast, and tough.  His connection to the monster solidified as the pathway between them opened wider and he felt its attention rivet on him.  In his mind's eye, he saw its wide, gaping mouth with waves of vile slime ooze from its maw.  The red eyes filled with rage and hate and a unquenchable desire to destroy.  He felt the terrible heat of its prison pressing in, but also giving way as it clawed its way slowly upward through the magma.  
  
Then Davis reached out a hand and took the Blue stone in his grip.  
  
Cold blue fire raced through his veins, pressing back the warm power that had filled him a moment before.  Before that freezing blue wave, Davis felt his strength, his speed, his invulnerability falter and collapse as his senses dulled and he became human.  
  
More importantly, he felt when the Blue-K followed his bond back to Doomsday.  The cold blue flowing in to quench the power of the monster as well.  
  
For just a moment, Davis felt what Doomsday was without that incredible power.  In the face of the Blue-K, the force that protected Doomsday -- making it immortal and invulnerable -- faltered.  Now every pain, every death, every destruction and injury came tumbling back into the creature's senses -- flooding it with pain beyond comprehension and endurance.  
  
That unendurable torment raced back along their bond, echoing into Davis.  He screamed in agony for an impossibly long moment, until the pain faded suddenly in a sharp blue chill.  With relief, Davis followed the icy blue cold down and into welcoming black.


	13. Chapter 13

_The room rumbled again and they all heard the loud ** _CRACK!_.**   Looking up in sudden fear, a gap appeared in the concrete support over their heads.  
  
"We're out of time!" Davis shouted, then reached out a hand and took the Blue stone in his grip._  
  
Chloe watched the power of the Blue-K streak up Davis' hand and under his shirt cuff only to reappear from under his collar and speed up his neck.  
  
 _So far, so good._  
  
Then Davis' eyes snapped open.  
  
His eyes had gone red.  Red as Doomsday's.  Then his mouth opened on a howl of agony unlike anything that should ever come from a human throat.  As Chloe stared in horror, icy blue light overtook the red of Davis' eyes.  
  
Then as suddenly as it had started, the awful howl stopped and Davis collapsed in a boneless heap.  The chunk of Blue-K tumbled from his limp hand and across the floor.  
  
Clark rushed forward at super-speed and caught Davis right before he would have hit the floor, as Chloe dashed to retrieve the Blue-K.  She stowed it safely with the other pieces back in the case.  
  
Clark gently laid Davis out on the floor, before getting back to his feet and looking around them in surprise.  "Chloe, the earthquake!  It's stopped!"  
  
Chloe blinked.  She hadn't even noticed, her mind full of concern for Davis, but Clark was right.  A moment before, the whole room had been shuddering, causing the ceiling itself to crack, but now...everything seemed quiet.  
  
"It worked," she looked down at Davis' quiet form on the ground, then back at Clark.  "Can you get us out of here now?  We don't know how long this break will last."  
  
Clark nodded.  "Let me see if I can find a safe place to tunnel out."  His red cape swirled around him dramatically as his face took on the squinting expression that Chloe knew meant he was using his X-ray vision.  After a few seconds, his face grew excited.  "I think I see a place, but I can't see more than a few feet into it because of the lead shielding, but if those schematics were accurate there shouldn't be anything above that but dirt and rubble.  Victor, you still with us?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm here.  What the hell happened with Davis?  I had to mute his com because of that scream."  They heard Victor shudder even through the link.  "But I'm here.  What can I do to help?  I'm still mostly blind into those deeper regions where you guys are."  
  
"That's fine.  I need surface eyes.  Tell me if there is anyone up there I should know about."  
  
"Gimmie a second."  They heard typing.  "Shit.  You guys need to get out of there now.  Looks like Lex's goons are heading up the main road."  
  
"That's our cue to leave then."  Clark bent down and threw Davis over his shoulder, then hesitated a moment before grabbing the handle of the case that held the Blue-K and Gold-K chunks.  Opening up an arm, Chloe moved in until she stood on one of his red boots and he used the arm with the case to secure her in place.  Smiling down he said, "Hang on tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride."  
  
Then Clark blasted through the ceiling above them and the three of them flew up into the tunnel he created.  Dirt, rock, and building material showered over them, covering all three in a brown-grey grit.  Then suddenly, without warning, they burst from the ground and out into the night.  
  
Chloe let out a relieved breath to be back on the surface and catching the sound, Clark showed off his dazzling smile, which seemed even whiter given everything else was covered in dirt.  Chloe smiled back for a moment before her attention was caught by a groan from Davis.  She wasn't sure exactly what had happened to him after he grabbed the Blue-K, but she was sure of one thing -- he had been just as much a hero as Clark.  If not more.  
  
 _Lex's lab found and destroyed - minus a few meteor rock samples now in our hands.  Doomsday temporarily stopped, and a possible weapon to use against it in the future._ _A pretty good night overall._  
  


* * *

  
  
Davis woke to the warm feeling of sunlight beating on his face.  As he opened his gritty eyes, he saw he was stretched out on a small cot and covered by a light blanket.  In a chair next to him, the sun backlit brilliant blonde hair, obscuring her face in a halo of light.  
  
 _Chloe._  
  
Without thinking, he reached out a hand to hers and his voice rasped.  "Chloe..."  
  
When she turned to face him, his smile fell.  It wasn't Chloe.   
  
He snatched his hand back and the strange young blonde woman smiled at him, but he thought he saw a slight hurt in her expression as he pulled away.  "No, sorry, Davis.  Chloe is still asleep."  The young woman nodded across the room, which he now recognized as Watchtower.  Chloe was curled up on a couch, covered by a light blanket.  Her chest rose and fell rhythmically in sleep.  "She tried to stay up and watch over you, but when I found her slumped over your bed, I had her moved over there where she'd be more comfortable and I took up watching over you."  The girl smiled wider.  "You all had a very busy night."  
  
"Thank you for taking care of her."  Davis nodded toward the sleeping Chloe, then give her a small lopsided smile as an apology for his earlier disappointment.  "And me.  You seem to know who I am, but I'm afraid I don't have the same honor," he said.  
  
She blushed prettily.  "Oh, sorry.  I've heard so much about you by now, I'd forgotten we hadn't met.  I'm Courtney.  Courtney Whitmore, also known as Stargirl."  She gave him a brilliant smile.  
  
Davis felt his own smile respond by widening.  In a way this girl reminded him of a younger Chloe.  "Nice to meet you Courtney.  Or do you prefer Stargirl?"  
  
"Either is fine in here, but outside, it goes by in-costume or not."  
  
Davis nodded.  "Makes sense."  His eyes went over to Chloe on the couch.  She was curled up tightly with one fist curled against her face like a small child.  He smiled at the picture, before turning his attention back to Courtney.  "Care to fill me in on how we all went from trapped in the Geothermal Plant to here?"  
  
"Sure.  At least I can tell you what I know.  Chloe or Clar-- I mean Superman -- can give you more exact details, but I can tell you what was in their report."  
  
Davis grinned at the poorly covered slip.  "It's fine, Courtney.  I know Clark is Superman.  I know a few other identities too, but I'll keep their names to myself if you don't mind," he said, thinking of Oliver/Green Arrow.  "This isn't my first time amongst this crowd."  
  
"Right, yeah, of course.  You were Doomsday.  Or part of you was.  Or something."  She stopped, letting out an annoyed breath.  "Honestly, it is kind of hard to understand, but if Chloe let you in here, she must trust you and that is good enough for me."  
  
He smiled, touched by the girl's faith in both him and Chloe.  "Thank you.  Now, the plant...?"  
  
"Right!  So from what I read, you are connected to Doomsday in some way?"  She said, lifting an eyebrow at him for confirmation.  He nodded, and she continued.  "So they said you grabbed a piece of Blue Kryptonite -- which I didn't even know was a thing, but anyway -- and they said you screamed and fainted, but that whatever you did stopped the monster from setting off the earthquake and destabilizing the plant.  After that, Clark grabbed up you and Chloe and bashed his way to the surface.  Just in time too, it seems.  As you were all flying away, Lex's security teams swarmed the site."  
  
Davis seized on the most important detail, his gaze intent on the young woman.  "Doomsday stopped fighting after I grabbed the Blue-K?"  
  
"That's what they said in their report," she said, somewhat nervously.  
  
Davis had to fight back the urge to whoop with joy.  He restrained himself, but still gave Courtney a huge grin.  "Do you understand what this means?"  
  
The girl was obviously no dummy.  "The Blue-K can neutralize Doomsday?" she said, flashing her own grin in response.  
  
"Yes!"  he enthused, then he felt the excitement drain from him slightly.  "For a little while at least.  Hopefully the exposure today wasn't enough to trigger an immune response from the monster and we will have at least one more shot."  He started to get up, but as soon as he threw the light blanket aside, he stopped.  He was wearing an incredibly thin, tight white undershirt and his boxer briefs.  And nothing else.  "Ummm, what happened to my clothes?"  
  
Courtney sprung to her feet.  "Victor and Clark removed them to check you over and run your vitals, since you seemed to be in shock.  Once you started to even out, we had them cleaned.  I'll go grab them for you."  
  
"Thank you, Courtney," he responded, sitting back on the cot and pulling the blanket across his lap.  He was glad he didn't really react much to temperature changes, because sitting around Watchtower in his underwear might have been cold.  
  
He didn't notice that Chloe's slow, regular breathing had become fast and erratic, or the brilliant green eye partially hidden by a swatch of blonde hair that watched him.


	14. Chapter 14

Davis ducked into the bathroom to finish dressing.  When he came out again, he saw Victor and Courtney were chatting together at one of the terminals.  He moved over to join them, though he did peek over at the still-sleeping Chloe.  
  
"Alright guys, since I am clearly not at death's door and Doomsday seems to be quiet for now, I'm going to head back to my hotel room for a shower and some clean clothes.  Maybe some food and better sleep while I'm at it.  You can call me if anything comes up.  Otherwise, I'll check back in tomorrow and we can decide what to do then."  
  
"Alright.  Thank you for your assistance last night, Davis," Victor said.  "You were...very brave."  
  
Courtney hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but eventually as she said was, "Ok.  Bye, Davis.  See you tomorrow."  She gave him a warm smile.  
  
He smiled back at the young woman, but found his eyes tracking back to the other blonde sleeping on the couch.  "Hey, Courtney, if Chloe wakes up, can you tell her..."  
  
Courtney's smile faltered slightly.  "Tell her what, Davis?"  
  
Yeah.  What message could he possibly give her?  _Thanks for watching over me while I slept?  Did I do the right thing with my powers last night?_  
  
Do you still feel anything for me?  
  
"Nevermind.  If she asks, just say I went back to my hotel."  
  
"Ok, Davis."  
  
Then he was gone.  
  


* * *

  
  
_Had Davis and Courtney been...flirting?_ Chloe seethed to herself.  
  
Well, maybe not...they were both friendly people, but she had caught Courtney's eyes on Davis' torso in that thin undershirt.  Somehow the nearly transparent fabric had only seemed to highlight the smooth planes of muscle instead of covering them.  As for Davis himself...what couldn't he tell Courtney for her?  Earlier, she'd seen the dazzling smile he gave the other woman.  Did he always smile like that at other people?  Or was it something special?  
  
 _Or am I just being... **jealous?**_  
  
When she, Clark, and Davis had gotten free of the Geothermal Plant, she had expected Davis to quickly rouse.  But when they had gotten back to Watchtower, and he had remained unconscious, worry had quickly turned to fear.  She had gotten him comfortable on the cot, while Victor had called Emil Hamiliton.  That fear hadn't eased until Emil had come and closely examined Davis and declared he should be fine.  His body was just recovering in its own way from the Blue-K exposure.  The doctor explained that while Clark recovered his powers almost as soon as the contact stopped, Davis had had a more violent reaction -- perhaps because of his shared connection with Doomsday.  When Davis had finally slipped into a more normal sleep, Chloe had been nearly overcome with relief, which was quickly followed by exhaustion.  She had allowed her eyes to close for just a moment as she pillowed her head on her arms on Davis' bedside.  Before she knew it, she was asleep.  She should have expected nightmares, but her sleep had been surprisingly warm and comfortable.  For the first time in years, his unique scent -- musk, pine, with a hint of something spicy and male -- had filled her nostrils as she slipped into sleep.  Unsurprisingly he had filled her dreams as well.  Her dreams twined with her memories as she once more saw him singing at the bar...cooking her dinner...playing video games...making love to her.  At one point she had roused slightly as she felt someone moving her from the chair to something much softer, but her dreams remained full of Davis.  
  
It wasn't until she woke to the soft murmur of voices, and heard Courtney and Davis talking about using the Blue-K again, that her dreams shattered.  
  
Years ago, she had watched Davis die in a glass cage filled with liquid Kryptonite.  Worst of all, it had been done by her own hand, and it had nearly torn her heart open.  
  
Then today, she had felt like it was coming to pass once more when he grabbed onto that piece of Blue-K.  She had seen his eyes turn red, then blue, and that scream...!  It had been horrible.  
  
And everyone -- Davis included -- planned for him to do it all again.  
  
And she couldn't think of a better solution.  
  
She had hoped to come up with some other way, but despite all her efforts, it was the only thing that might actually work against Doomsday.  It had become clear today that there was no longer a question of trying to stabilize the plant enough to keep the monster trapped.  The plant would fail, no matter what they tried.  Between what Lex had done and Doomsday's efforts, too much damage had been done to ever secure the structure again.  Davis and the Blue-K was their only chance for holding the monster at bay until they could find another way to neutralize Doomsday.  A way they still didn't have -- whether it be here on Earth or in The Phantom Zone.  Davis was their only leverage, especially with Lex out there intent on releasing the creature for his own purposes.  Chloe had briefly considered telling Lex some of the truth of the danger of the creature, but there was no way they could be sure that Lex wouldn't see the monster's insatiable destructive tendencies as something he could harness.  
  
But the danger to Davis would be worse next time.  While he seemed ready to jump into the lion's maw, Chloe found she wasn't quite so ready to see him do that.  After all this time, she had finally found out that he was alive, that he wasn't the one that killed Jimmy, and that under it all...he was still trying to be a hero.  
  
Chloe cut the last thought off quickly.  It didn't matter any more.  They had gone their own ways years ago.  She had mourned him and what they might have had and let it go years ago.  Now it was too late.  
  
Or was it?  
  
 _"Do you still love him?"_ Clark had asked.  
  
She had replied then that she didn't know.  But if she had come to realize one thing between then and now it was that the man she had once loved -- the one that would risk his life, the one that would willingly inflict terrible pain on himself to save others from his monstrous twin, the one that could melt her with a smile -- was still there.  
  
And that she was falling in love with him all over again.  
  
 _Crap!_  
  


* * *

  
  
Chloe threw back the covers from where she lay on the couch and sat up, surprising Courtney.  
  
"Chloe!  You're awake!" she said.  
  
Victor's voice was calm as usual.  "I assume you heard everything Davis said?  You've been awake for almost an hour."  
  
"An hour?" Courtney asked, her face going red.  
  
"Yeah, I heard.  Thanks, Victor."  
  
She and Davis needed to sit down and have a real conversation.  Alone.  No Clark or Victor or Watchtower eyes on them.  They needed to put it all out there and clear the air.  Now seemed like the perfect time with everyone else occupied, and the breather that Davis' maneuver with the Blue-K had bought them.  
  
"Do you know where to go?" he asked.  
  
"Yes.  Thank you."  
  
He turned, his human eye serious.  "Be careful, Chloe."  
  
She frowned back at Victor.  "I'd think after everything he did last night, you'd cut him some slack, Victor.  He certainly wouldn't hurt me."  
  
Victor turned back to his monitors.  "No, not on purpose he wouldn't."  
  
Chloe let the comment slide and started fumbling around under the couch for her shoes.


	15. Chapter 15

Freshly showered and with his hair still dripping, Davis tied a towel around his waist and left the steam-filled bathroom.  Moving over to the bedroom's dresser, he pulled out a pair of soft sleep pants and his usual dark tee.  Then a knock came at the door of his hotel room.  He frowned at the door, wondering who it could be.   
  
It was the middle of the day.  Clark would still be at work at The Daily Planet.  Victor or Courtney would have called.  His frown dissolved as he decided who it must be.   
  
_Chloe._   
  
He raced across the room to fling the door open.  It opened two inches then slammed shut again.   
  
He had forgotten to remove the security chain.   
  
Feeling sheepish, he undid the security chain and opened the door to see Chloe standing in the hallway, holding two large paper bags and grinning madly.  "You forgot the security chain, didn't you?" she asked, her eyes dancing.   
  
"Yeah..." he said sheepishly, shifting from foot to foot.   
  
"You always did that in the motel rooms when we..."  Her voice trailed off and her smile faltered slightly, then recovered.  "But anyway, I've brought food since I figured you wouldn't have a good place to cook in a hotel room.  Can I come in?"

* * *

  
  
Davis grinned in response, obviously delighted she was there.  The brilliant smile sent her heart to racing and she shifted the bags in her arms awkwardly to distract herself.  He opened the door wider to let her in, but suddenly she froze as he moved out from behind the door.   
  
He was wearing nothing but a small white hotel towel low over his hips, and his dark hair was dripping onto his shoulders.  She had thought he had looked gorgeous in that glimpse she had gotten a little bit ago of him in that thin undershirt.   
  
She almost felt sorry for Courtney missing out because this was so much better.   
  
She tried hard not to stare, but a thousand memories flashed through her mind.  The time when she had come over his apartment and he had answered the door in a towel just this way...though there had been another woman with him then.  Her eyes did a quick perusal of the room and she didn't see anyone else.   
  
Then she remembered the dozen little motels they had stayed in when they had been on the run together.  How they would take turns toweling each other off and laughing about how each motel seemed to have smaller and smaller towels.  She recalled one place that had towels so tiny that when she had complained it didn't even cover her from breast to butt, Davis had teased that he would make sure not a single drop of water would escape his attention, no matter how tiny the towel was.  Then he had thrown the towel across the room and instead used his tongue to lick the drops of water from her body.  That had led to...other things and they had ended having to shower all over again.   
  
Chloe felt her cheeks flame at the memory, and cleared her throat.  "Did I come at a bad time?" she asked awkwardly, trying very hard not to look at him.   
  
Well, she did try.  She just didn't succeed very well.   
  
The glimpse she'd gotten earlier through lashes and hair at Watchtower wasn't quite he same as being a foot away from him.  Now she could smell the fresh scent of his soap and feel the warmth radiate from him.  She could even follow the individual drops of water that fell from his thick hair to travel over his smooth chest and down the ripples of his abs, only to be caught in the terry cloth that seemed to be held in place by nothing but sheer willpower.  His skin was still as smooth and pale as marble.  You'd never know he had spent the better part of the last several years in the jungle.  Except for the muscles.  He had put on bulk since she had seen him last.  It hadn't been so obvious in clothes, but once they had come off, she could see the changes from the form she had once known so well.  She guessed all the hard physical labor associated with building and running a clinic with Emergency International had built him up in ways that being a regular EMT hadn't.   
  
"What's wrong, Chloe?" Davis asked in confusion as she stared at him.  She could tell the exact moment when he realized he was wearing nothing but a towel, because suddenly he was a bundle of motion.  "Oh, sorry!  Come in.  I'll go get dressed in the bathroom."  Turning around, he snatched up a bundle of clothes from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.   
  
Now that she was no longer confronted by nearly-naked Davis, Chloe's mind started working again.  She closed the door behind her and moved to the small table and chairs set by the window.  From the paper bags, she pulled out Styrofoam containers that did little to suppress the smell of fresh, crisp waffles inside.   
  
She had just finished putting out the syrup tubs and plasticware when the bathroom door reopened and Davis came out, now more appropriately dressed in soft sleep pants and a dark tee.  He was sniffing the air appreciatively.   
  
"Do I smell waffles?" he asked.   
  
"Yep,"  Chloe responded, smiling.  "I wasn't exactly sure what meal this would be between working all night, then a near-coma in the middle of the day, but I figured you can never go wrong with waffles."   
  
Davis slid into the chair across from her and pulled one of the overstuffed containers to himself, grinning.  "You know I would agree with that."   
  
The next few minutes were a combination of familar and strange - the once-comfortable ritual of eating together in a motel room countered by years and distance.  So they found themselves eating mostly in silence, though each accidental touch of feet under table or hands going for syrup brought small smiles.  When they had both eatten their fill, it was Davis that broke the odd tension.   
  
Leaning back and studying Chloe intently, he said, "Not that I don't appreciate the food delivery, Chloe, but what are you really doing here?"   
  
She had known this question was coming since she had decided to come over, and in all the time since, she still hadn't come up with a reason that didn't sound foolish to her own ears.  So she settled on something closest to the truth.  "I thought we needed some time to talk.  Alone."   
  
"Alright..."  Davis drawled the word out.  "What did you want to discuss?"   
  
Chloe took a deep breath then let it out, steeling herself.  "Back at the plant, you said something that didn't make much sense at the time.  You said _'No matter what you or anyone else may believe, I came here to help.'_  What did you mean by that?"   
  
Chloe saw Davis go very still for a moment.  When he replied his voice was slow and measured.  "I told you I'd had dreams about Doomsday breaking free before the quakes and that is what brought me back."   
  
"Right..." Chloe encouraged.   
  
"The part I'm not clear on myself is the origin of those dreams."  He held Chloe's eyes with a magnetic gaze.  "Even in the rainforest I caught some of what happened out in the rest of the world.  The other aliens...what might have even been other Kryptonians."   
  
Chloe nodded, confirming his statements.   
  
"I even felt a strange pull at what I later found was when a vortex opened up in Metropolis.  I think the only reason I could resist is because by that time, I had cut myself off from that side for so long."   
  
Chloe frowned.  "So you think that the dreams might have been sent by some other power?  And they are more than just a reflection of your Doomsday connection?"   
  
"I don't know, Chloe.  Nothing that happened went according to the plans of the ones that made me.  I was supposed to be a disposable skin for the monster.  I wasn't supposed to have a mind, a will, a purpose of my own.  But I have all those things, and most of all, I am a weakness for a creature that overcomes weaknesses.  I am a flaw in its impenetrable shell that can be exploited or destroyed for good or ill."   
  
"Is that another reason why you stayed hidden all this time?  I mean, we really could have used you a few times..."   
  
Davis smiled without much humor.  "No, I knew you would all do fine.  Clark was the hero born, not me."   
  
Chloe smiled softly.  "I'm not so sure about that.  From what I saw in the plant, you still seem to have Hero written in your DNA."   
  
Davis' smile faltered.  "I'm trying, but my DNA is part of the problem.  Even seperate from Doomsday, we are linked, and while I can exploit that link against against it..."   
  
Chloe understood instantly.  "You fear others can exploit it against _you_ too."   
  
"Exactly.  What if my coming back here was what some evil power wanted?"   
  
Chloe's brows knit as she thought.  "So why did you come back?  If you feared this was part of some evil plot?"   
  
Davis eyes were very intent.  "Several reasons. I have no way of knowing if it could be something good drawing me back and not something evil.  I am able to go up against Doomsday, even if only for a time. And that monster is my responsibility."   
  
Chloe opened her mouth to argue that point, but Davis spoke over her.   
  
"But mostly, because the dreams showed...things I couldn't let happen.  No matter what pulled me into the fray, I had to do everthing I could to stop those events from happening."   
  
Chloe swallowed.  She thought she knew the answer, but she still had to ask.  Her voice came out very soft.  "What things, Davis?  What did you see?"   
  
His face grew haunted.  "Doomsday was free and coming to destroy Metropolis, kill Clark."  He waited a significant moment, then continued.  "To kill you."   
  
"Davis, I am not the same person that you knew.  I may not have super powers, but I am not defenseless.  I've been lost to darkness and fear and death since then, and it has made me strong."   
  
"You were always strong, Chloe."   
  
Chloe's voice turned soft.  "No, I wasn't.  After you...were gone...i t was only because of...others that I've been able to pull myself together again."   
  
Davis smiled ruefully.  "I know something about that too, Chloe.  Having to pull yourself back together.  But you are wrong, you were always strong.  If you weren't, you would have shatttered and never come back.  But I can see the core of you is still the same."  This time his smile was warmer.  "You aren't the only one that saw a hero during that Plant incursion."  Then his smile faltered.  "I'm just sorry I wasn't here to help you when you needed it, though I am glad Oliver was."   
  
Chloe hesitated.  "You knew about that?"   
  
Again his smile was rueful.  "I told you I kept up on things in the outside world."   
  
Chloe hesitated again before asking.  "Did you...have someone in the rainforest?"   
  
"Yes.  Her name is Marta."   
  
"Is?  Oh.  So you are still together then?"   
  
Davis smiled in that sexy, lopsided, teasing way.  "Are you asking me if I'm single, Chloe?"   
  
"No!  Of course not!," came her immediate reply.   
  
Davis burst out into laughter.  Chloe's first reaction was to blush, but when she saw the absurdity of the situation she started laughing as well.   
  
Still smiling, Davis said, "No, Chloe.  We aren't together.  Not like you mean.  She is my best friend at E.I.  She lost her husband in a landslide shortly after I got down there, and I was kind of lost myself after..."  Davis voice trailed off, before he continued in a breezy tone again.  "So anyway, we both found ourselves alone and it kind of worked."   
  
"Because you could get your jollies with no expected commitment?", Chloe said mockingly, looking away.  She was strangly hurt by the idea of Davis finding comfort with another woman.   
  
"More or less, yes.  You see, we were both still in love with other people, even though we couldn't be with them.  Marta with her dead husband and me with..."   
  
Chloe looked up and met Davis' eyes as his voice trailed off. Her breath caught as she read the look in Davis' eyes.  They burned with a hunger that had nothing to do with waffles.   
  
The word hung in the air unsaid for an infinite amount of time...   
  
_"You."_   
  
Chloe wasn't sure if it was her body or her heart that directed her first, but she found herself leaning forward towards Davis across the small table.  She saw him shifting forward in the same way and she knew he was going to kiss her.  After all this time -- miles and lifetimes, and world disasters -- he had returned to her and he was going to kiss her once more.  Her eyes slid closed and she caught a wisp of his breath, warm and sweet with syrup and waffles.  A small sound of want and excitement squeaked in the back of her throat and her lips softened and parted for his kiss...   
  
Then the table shook violently and Chloe fell back into her chair in surprise as Davis bolted out of his chair and nearly leaped over the table and over to the door of the hotel room.  He flung the door open with such violent force that Chloe felt that if she had replaced the safety chain back on, it would have torn straight out of the wall.  Davis eyes were wide and wild and his breath was coming in pants as he stood across the room with the door open.  His voice was harsh as he said.  "I think you better leave now, Chloe."   
  
Chloe blinked in confusion and more than a little frustrated desire.  "W-Why?"   
  
Davis remained by the door, but his voice rumbled through her.  "If you stay, I will kiss you."   
  
"Yeah, I got that...and that is bad _why?_ "   
  
Something hot and animal flashed in Davis' eyes, but he didn't move.  "If I kiss you, I won't be able to stop until I am buried inside you.  And I don't want to do that until you are ready for all that means."   
  
"Oh." It was all Chloe could think to say to such a declaration.  Feeling disoriented, she gathered up her purse and jacket and crossed over to the hotel room door that Davis was still glued against.   
  
She paused as she passed by him, but except for the rapid pulse she saw beating against his throat and his hot eyes following her, Davis remained still.   
  
"I guess I'll talk you later, Davis."   
  
His eyes didn't lose any of their heat or intensity, but the tone was slightly different when Davis replied.  "Chloe.  Whenever you need me again -- as a friend...or anything else -- I'll be here."   
  
"Thank you, Davis," she replied, unsure what else to say.   
  


* * *

  
  
As Chloe walked down the hotel hallway towards the elevator , she heard Davis slowly and carefully close the room's door, as if trying to make up for the violence with which he had opened it.  But her mind was spinning on Davis' words.   
  
_ 'If I kiss you, I won't be able to stop until I am buried inside you.  And I don't want to do that until you are ready for all that means.' _   
  
She knew what he wanted...and had to admit it was what she wanted too.  That was a large part of what had sent her over here.  Ahead could be heartache and pain, but wasn't it always that way when it came to love?  The only question was, was she willing to face those risks for what they could have together?   
  
She saw now that he was clearly in love with her...and not just the memory of her as she had been.  He saw who she was now -- tougher, deeper, not so naive, but still a person who saw and fought for the good in the world.   
  
She also saw he had grown too.  He was a much deeper thinker and more guarded person than he had been.  She guessed that after being under Doomsday's influence that he now took a much deeper look at the nature of his thoughts and the results they would cause.  He also seemed to have a stronger need to put the welfare of others above his own desires -- even if it came at great personal sacrifice.  He hadn't said as much, but she had seen the pain it had caused him to keep away from Metropolis -- from _her_ \-- all this time.   
  
Yes, they were different, but could that be...better?  After all they had been through apart, they had been brought together again.  They still didn't know if what brought him back was good or evil, but she found herself glad either way.   
  
Because it gave them another chance.   
  
Without another thought, Chloe spun on her heel and marched back to Davis' door.  She planted her feet, and firmly knocked on the door.   
  
She heard the scrape of the security chain being removed and a moment later, the door opened to reveal Davis.  Before he could get a word out, she barreled past him and into the room.  She slammed the door shut behind her and turned to face him.  She gave him her firmest, most determined look.  "Kiss me, Davis."   
  
His voice came out low and deep, almost a growl.  "Chloe..."   
  
She pressed herself against him firmly, feeling the hardness of him.  "I'm in, Davis.  I want it.  All of it."   
  
His eyes flared to life with a passion beyond anything she had even seen in the eyes of another man.  "Oh, thank God," he growled.   
  
Then he was kissing her.


	16. Interlude 1

There was no gentleness, no skill or coaxing as Davis pressed Chloe against the wall of his hotel room, his mouth crushing down on hers. It had been too long for that. The kiss was raw, full of need and animal passion. The force of it set off something equally powerful and primitive in Chloe, and she found herself kissing him back with equal fervor. All thought, all sense and reason completely fled as their lips and breath met in a fury of gasps, crushing lips, and teeth. It was less a kiss and more like they were trying to consume the other. But it wasn't enough. She needed MORE. Chloe's hands skittered over the soft fabric of Davis' tee until she found the bottom. Then she pulled up until she felt the warm smooth planes of Davis' stomach under her palms. She moved her hands up basking in the feel of him under her hands, pushing up the soft tee as she went. When she reached his chest, they had to part for a moment to allow Davis to pull the shirt over his head, then to allow for him to do the same for hers, but then they were pressing together again. Leaning against the wall again, Chloe gave a slight shiver from the coolness against her back, but found herself grateful for the support when Davis trailed hot, wet, nibbling kisses down her throat and over the tops of her breasts. The globes swelled as his hands fitted themselves to and she felt the nipples grow tight. Davis pulled the delicate lace edge of her bra aside to expose her nipple and breathed a warm breath over the sensitive nub. She had just a moment to gasp before the exposed peak was taken into the hot wetness of his mouth.

Ever since she had learned he was alive and had returned to Metropolis, small flashes of memory had been plaguing her. At random moments she would remember the feel of his hands, his mouth, his warm breath, his body. Haunting reminders of sensations long past, but too compelling to be easily dismissed. She had told herself it was only memory making them seem so powerful, but now she realized she had been fooling herself. It really had been like that - all-powerful, consuming, incredible.

It was like that again.

She had only a moment to marvel at the truth of it before all thought fled when Davis began to suckle and pull at her nipple with his mouth. So instead she slid her hands over the smoothness of Davis' torso once more. The glimpses she had gotten couldn't compare to the sensation of actually hiving him bare to her exploration. Following the fine contours of his torso, her hands explored their way south until she hit the edge of his sleep pants. As she tickled his stomach along that border, Davis released her nipple and looked at her. His normally soft brown eyes had gone deep and dark with passion, the lids drooping low. Purposefully, so she could feel every inch of him, he pressed himself into her, pinning her back against the wall. She could feel the large bulge of his hard cock insistently pressing into into her and knew he was ready. She had known he would be. She certainly was. She stroked him trough the fabric of his pants was rewarded by a load groan as he pressed himself against her more firmly. Her own body responded by releasing another wave of moisture that she felt soaking into her panties.

Then as if by some sort of unspoken mutual agreement, they were pulling and tugging away at the pants of the other, desperate to remove the last barriers between them. Chloe easily stripped Davis' sleep pants and boxer briefs, but he took only a moment longer with her jeans and panties. Once bare, Davis easily lifted her and wrapped her legs around his waist. He didn't need to ask if she was ready. It was obvious to both of them she was from the way she was pressing herself to him. So with a single smooth push, he entered her slick channel. Chloe let out a cry of ecstasy at feeling of him filling her. It was as if she had been made for just this. Her body tensed around him, holding him in, holding him as part of her. It was the best feeling in the world...until he began to move. Then she couldn't think at all, only _feel._ Her body's moisture coated him, making his movements smooth and full, building up a tension in her that coiled tighter and tighter with each stroke. She could feel sensual pressure spiraling out from the core of her, and as it increased, she felt her hands locking into claws as her nails dug into his back and her teeth clenched so tight she thought they might crack. But still the force built. Davis' skin became slick and heated as his pace increased and his hips pounded into her, filling and retreating, causing pulsing waves of sensation with every movement. Under her clawed hands, his muscles were clenching tighter and tighter as her concentration narrowed only into the single need - release. Suddenly, at the point when she thought she would either need to explode of die, it finally broke. Davis shifted his stroke just slightly so he would slide over a spot deep inside her. That small friction was all it took. That unbearable tension snapped and she screamed, her body shaking and pulsing around him. Still riding the waves or her orgasm, she went over the cliff again when she felt Davis pulsing inside her as he orgasmed deep and hard, shouting her name. Together they rode out the sensation as sparks dazzled before their eyes.

* * *

They remained panting against the wall for a very long time afterwards. neither of them wished to move, though by all rights it should have been an awkward position. Her legs were still hitched over his hips and the only thing keeping them upright was his weight pressing her back into the wall. When their breath finally returned to normal, Chloe felt a chuckle rumble deep through Davis' body and she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him inquiringly.

His smile was broad and beautiful as he met her gaze. "I just realized that I'm in need of another shower already."

Chloe smiled in return. "Yeah I guess you do." She shifting pointedly where their bodies were still joined. "Mind if I join you?"

If possible, Davis' smile became even brighter. "I'd love that." He carefully extracted himself from Chloe, but before she could make a move from the wall, he swooped in and lifted her into his arms. Surprised, Chloe let out a small squeak, but it was quickly replaced by laughter as he carried her into the bathroom.

Davis deposited Chloe gently to the floor outside the shower before turning and working the knobs until a stream of steaming hot water poured down. Stepping under the water he smilingly held out a hand to her, inviting her to join him. Chloe smiled in reply and stepped in with him under the water. Still smiling, Davis picked up a bar of soap that was resting on a ledge inside and began lathering it in his hands. When he had a plentiful handful of suds, he placed the soap back and began running gentle hands along Chloe's body. It was such a delicious sensation that Chloe found herself leaning back against him and closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of Davis' soapy hands and the hot water running over her body. Slowly her languor was replaced by sensual awareness as Davis' caresses became more intimate. His hands massaging her breasts, which responded by peaking once more. When his hands fluttered down over her stomach, Chloe's breaths started coming faster, and when his long fingers cupped the mound of her sex, Chloe let out a moan of pleasure. Davis had beautiful, talented hands which he used to tease and torment her until she was helplessly leaning against him, moaning. When one of those wonderful fingers slid inside her, Chloe gasped and thrust against the invasion. It hadn't been very long since she had orgasmed so wildly with him against the wall, but already her body was racing towards fulfillment. Somehow Davis could tell exactly how close she was because he kept easing off or speeding up his touch, leaving her hovering right on the edge. Just when Chloe didn't think she could take any more, she felt Davis spin her around. Her eyes flew open to catch the wicked gleam in his gaze for just a second before he dropped to his knees before her. Confused, Chloe didn't resist when he hitched one of her legs over his shoulder. But when he leaned forward, she understood. Her head leaned back against the shower wall, as the water sluiced down her body and over Davis' hair as his tongue found her most intimate place. Her cries echoed off the tiles of the shower as Davis showed her the ledge she could go over was even higher.

* * *

Smiling to herself in a dreamy haze, Chloe reflected that Davis still had a thing for showers...and it seemed so did she. She watched him dry off once more, letting her eyes roam his beautiful nude form. It amazed her that somehow he had gotten even better looking in the years of their separation.

The memory of why they had been apart all this time dimmed her happiness and set her mind to racing again. He had been gone by choice all this time and let her believe him dead - and Jimmy's killer to boot. Was she risking too much by getting involved with him once more? What if he hurt her again?

She knew his staying away had been a difficult decision...but he genuinely believed he had been doing the right thing doing so.

Could she fault him for doing what he thought was right, even if it had caused her pain? He had clearly suffered for the choice as well.

Chloe remembered the many arguments she had had with Clark over the years about what they each saw as right. Sometimes it turned out she had made the right choice and sometimes not, but all she could do was work with the knowledge she had and follow her own sense of right. That was all anyone could do really.

Even aliens.

And simple as that, standing in the hotel room bathroom, watching Davis dry himself Chloe let go of the last of her anger and resentment. She forgave him for the pain he had caused her with his deception and gave him her heart. They had always been at their strongest together, and if Davis' fear about a force sending him to Doomsday was right, they were going to need every advantage they could get.

Chloe glanced at Davis' watch resting on the sink and quickly calculated the time since Doomsday had last tried to break free. Chloe sighed. Their little break was coming to an end. If the monster had recovered at all to the degree that Davis had, they should be getting back to Watchtower. There was a monstrous alien killing machine working its way free, a twisted billionaire determined to help it kill her best friend, and the man she loved caught in between - just her average day in Kansas.


	17. Chapter 17

When Chloe and Davis walked into Watchtower again a few hours later, they didn't miss the looks their arriving together generated. Even though they weren't holding hands or displaying any sort of affection, it was clear that everyone else could tell something had changed between the two of them. Courtney's face fell slightly while Victor's took on the blank mask he assumed when trying to hide his feelings. But it was Clark's reaction that Chloe honed in upon. At first his face went dark and stormy, then cleared slightly as if a thought occurred to him before settling into a watchful expression.

That was interesting...and strange.

Chloe glanced up to see how Davis was reacting, but he was looking back at Clark with a steady expression. He was offering neither challenge nor submission in that look. Chloe felt a smile quirk her lips with admiration. Davis was neither challenged nor overwhelmed by Clark as the other men in her life had been. Here, finally, was a meeting of equals. Though any sort of romantic feeling she once held for Clark was years gone, she was glad to finally be with someone that could stand even with her larger-than-life friend. Her sudden grin up at him caused Davis to glance at her questioningly, but she couldn't find the right words. So she took his hand in a quick squeeze instead. Then she walked into the middle of the room and used her best no nonsense voice to pull everyone's attention to the task at hand.

"Alright everyone, we've had a bit of a reprieve the last few days between Davis striking at Doomsday and the sabotage we did to Lex's operations at the plant, but that breather is coming to an end." She picked up a tablet and set several of the monitors to display the alert feed she had set up during the aftermath of the first quakes. "As you can see by these spikes, the seismic activity is starting again and is still emanating from the Geothermal Plant. So far we aren't feeling much here in Metropolis, but it is clear the activity is rising steadily. From this we can estimate that within the next twenty-four hours, we can expect another major quake." She took in a slow breath and released it before continuing. "And judging by the intel we got during our investigation of the old geothermal plant site, I think we need to assume that Doomsday will break out with the next event." She paused and gave everyone in the room a hard look. "So we need a solid plan on how to deal with that threat. This is what we have to work with." She gave the tablet a few quick taps to bring up a file she had previously created. "We know that no power on earth can defeat Doomsday, which is why Clark originally put the monster _under_ the earth." She gave an appreciative nod to Clark then continued. "Theoretically, we could try that again, if a suitable location could be found, except there are some major difficulties. One, there are a very limited number of facilities that go deep enough to hold the monster. Two, of those facilities, none are secure in the long run. We would have no guarantee that Lexcorp wouldn't just swoop in and set up shop again like they did here." Chloe saw the nods of acceptance she had expected here.

Courtney raised a hand which caused Chloe to smile. "Yes, Courtney?"

"So if we can't contain the monster on or under the earth...can we contain it in space?" She turned and looked at Clark. "I know the J'onn can fly in space for a time and so can you. Could you just set the creature adrift out in space? Or throw it into the sun or something?"

Clark shook his head in reply. "Unfortunately, sending the monster out into space is probably even less secure than burying it here. The universe is much more crowded than I think any of us ever imagined. There is nothing to say that some other evil wouldn't take possession of Doomsday and send it right back here. Or that the creature wouldn't eventually make its way to some other innocent planet and unleash havoc. We can't run those risks. Since it seems unlikely we will be able to destroy Doomsday, we need a way to secure it permanently where it can neither be used or cause any more destruction to innocent lives."

Chloe nodded. "Clark's right. Which brings us to this -" With another tap on her tablet an image of the Phantom Zone crystal appeared on the monitors. "With this crystal, we have a secure prison where we can send Doomsday where no innocents would be harmed, but there are challenges here too. The crystal can only be used at Clark's arctic fortress, and it has a range of only a few feet." Chloe shot Davis an apologetic glance before continuing. "This is also a tactic that has been tried before and failed."

Davis cut in. "What Chloe is trying not to say is that the tactic was tried on _me_ , when Doomsday and I were still connected. But the important note here is that while the portal stood open, neither Clark nor I were able to force the other into the portal. We were too well matched."

Chloe nodded, acknowledging the point. "True. Doomsday was intended to match against Kryptonians. So we have to find a way to push the balance in our favor if we don't just want a repeat." She paused and looked at Davis, asking and receiving some sort of permission before continuing. "Davis has informed me about how his powers react concerning Doomsday. As he draws on his Kryptonian powers, there is a marked draw on the monster."

"Basically, we both draw from the same well of force, and when I use my abilities, it limits what Doomsday can access," Davis clarified.

"Wow! Really?" Courtney interjected. "Shouldn't that give us a major advantage? I mean as you get stronger, Doomsday gets weaker - that's HUGE."

Davis nodded with reserve. "Yes, except even with me drawing in all the power I can, what Doomsday can still access is way beyond anything you could imagine. Certainly it would still be enough for the monster to be a significant threat - yes, even to Clark."

"Oh," Courtney replied looking crestfallen.

"There is something else to consider," Davis said. "I can sense the monster at all times - its location and, for lack of a better word, its moods. More so when I channel the power. I don't think it can normally sense me unless I use my powers, but when I do, I locks onto me with a single-minded madness." Davis paused then added, "But we may be able to use that to our advantage."

"As bait," Victor said, flatly.

Davis caught Cyborg's eyes and nodded.

"That makes sense. Otherwise, how would we get it to the fortress to send it away in the first place?" Courtney said.

"I just carried him away with me last time," Clark put in, sounding slightly miffed.

Davis half-smiled. "That was only because you caught me by surprise..and I was me. Not Doomsday."

"So you are saying you are weaker than Doomsday?" Clark said with a challenge in his eyes.

Davis' own eyes glittered with response to the challenge. "No, but I was fighting against both you _and_ Doomsday." The glitter left Davis' eyes and was replaced by regret. "And I was losing. You came just in time."

Chloe smiled at Clark warmly. "He always does."

Clark smiled warmly back, "Though I'd say you had pretty good timing that day too."

"Agreed," Davis put in.

Victor rolled his eyes. "Yes, we are all timely and wonderful. Can we get back to the problem at hand?"

"Of course," Chloe said, turning back to her tablet. "So Davis has already covered how his power draws upon and focuses the monster on him, but that it doesn't weaken Doomsday enough for us to take it down."

"What about Davis and Clark working together? Could they wrestle it to the arctic and through the tunnel?" Courtney asked.

Davis turned a questioning look to Clark, but the big man was already shaking his head. "Too risky. If it fought us, we could destroy half the city trying to take it out."

"Also Davis is our only Ace against the monster," Victor put in. "If you two both prove to be insufficient to the task, it will kill Davis and we will lose our only advantage."

"And I'd be dead. Again. For good this time," Davis said offhandedly.

"Wait, what?" Chloe turned to look at Davis, fear and shock in her expression. "Why wouldn't you come back?"

Davis looked sheepish. "I guess I didn't mention that part, did I? Ummm...Doomsday can injure me and those injuries don't heal like I normally do. I mean, I do heal eventually, but like a human, not like a Kryptonian. It stands to reason the monster could kill me permanently too."

"That is kind of an important detail," Chloe chided.

Davis shrugged unconvincingly. "I'd rather not die of course, but there is risk for all of us."

Chloe glowered in response, but she couldn't refute that logic.

"So that leads us back to how do we weaken the monster?" Clark said.

Collecting herself, Chloe said, "Yes, right. So far we know, Davis himself and things that affect Davis' power carry through to Doomsday."

"The Blue-K," Clark said.

"Yes," Chloe agreed flatly. What the Blue-K had done to Davis last time had been terrible. Could she really do that to him again?

"What about your immunity, though?" Victor asked, looking to Davis. "I know you and Doomsday both are impervious to Green-K. What if you are now immune to Blue?"

"Last time I was killed by the Green-K before I became immune. That is always how it worked before," Davis replied.

"Have you died since you were split from Doomsday?" Victor asked.

"Yes...though it was from an explosion...and also maybe suffocation, but I must admit I had already died from those causes before the split."

"So maybe we should have another plan in case the Blue-K doesn't work?" Courtney asked nervously.

"Like what?" Clark responded.

Davis turned to look sharply at Clark. "Clark, what does the Gold-K do?"

Clark looked suddenly nervous. "It's dangerous stuff Davis, and I'm not sure I want it to be common knowledge."

Davis pointedly looked around the room. "Is there anyone here that doesn't or shouldn't know?"

Victor let out a heavy breath. "Clark, except for Davis everyone here knows because of what happened at your aborted wedding. And I have to admit I think Davis has a right to know too. Tell him."

Clark looked at the faces of Courtney and Chloe to see what they thought. Courtney looked anxious then nodded, while Chloe looked very firm.

Sighing, Clark turned back to Davis. "Gold-K takes away our powers. Permanently. There is not coming back from it."

Davis blinked in surprise. "So it makes us human...forever?"

Clark nodded grimly.

Wow. Now Davis understood the closed-lip nature of everyone about it. If that fact was common knowledge, someone would surely use it against Superman.

But for himself...would being human be so bad? Davis pushed that tantalizing thought away.

"I can appreciate why you kept that secret," Davis said quietly.

"Yeah, and you also see why it is too dangerous to use," Chloe put in.

"Wait a minute..." Courtney said, her expression thoughtful. "You and Davis both react to Kryptonite because you are Kryptonian, right, Clark?"

"Right, " Clark agreed, looking confused.

"And so is Doomsday, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So if you are afraid Davis may have formed an immunity to Blue-K, why not just hit Doomsday with it directly? Maybe make a bullet or something you could do at a distance? You could even use the Gold-K if you wanted."

Chloe caught on to Courtney's plan and turned to Clark excitedly. "Then while the creature is weak, you and Davis can force it through the portal! And no one would know about the nature of the other Kryptonites because everything would be contained within your fortress, Clark!"

Clark looked thoughtful. "Sounds like a good plan, though to be safe someone else will need to handle the weapon. We can't risk Davis or I being exposed to the Kryptonite."

"I'll do it," Chloe said immediately. "Thanks to the Suicide Squad I am more than competent with a gun and can make my own bullets. I'm also familiar with both the Phantom Zone crystal use and The Fortress."

"Are you sure, Chloe? Aside from Davis and I, Doomsday seems particularly drawn to you," Clark said.

"I'm sure. In fact, that is another reason it should be me. With the three of us in one place, it will be an irresistible lure to get The Beast up there away from Metropolis."

Clark frowned, but didn't disagree.

"If you, Davis, and Clark are all going to this fortress of Clark's what will Victor and I do?" Courtney asked.

"You need to keep the city from tearing itself apart in the wake of the quake and the reappearance of the monster that wrecked havoc last time it came through. We don't need another Dark Thursday on our hands. If any other team members are available to help, call them in."

"Even Oliver and Dinah?" Victor asked with a single arched eyebrow.

Chloe gave a less-than-pleasant smile. "Especially them. They owe me."

Clark clapped his hands together and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Alright, so we have a plan, let's get started."

"Yeah," Davis agreed. "We're only luring a near-invincible alien killing machine to an arctic fortress based on its desire to kill us, then shoot it with meteor rocks before pushing it through an inter-dimensional portal to a prison world. There is absolutely no way this could go horribly wrong."

**Author's Note:**

> At this point, I have this story pretty well mapped out in my head and I'm thinking it will run about 25 chapters. Currently the story is T-Rated, but I'll change it when we reach the M-Rated parts. I am also not really sure of the update schedule for this story. It definitely won't be weekly, but I think every 2-3 weeks is manageable.


End file.
